Shift
by Kakashihasnicearms
Summary: On October 10th, Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina died, leaving behind two children. Sixteen years later, when Minato is revived, he's in for quite a shock. For starters, one of his children is an Akatsuki member and the other is a happy-go-lucky idiot. Note: Yondaime bashing and OC Warning. Complete.
1. Eighteen Years Prior

Summary: On October 10th, Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina died, leaving behind two children. Sixteen years later, when Minato is revived, he's in for quite a shock. For starters, one of his children is an Akatsuki member and the other is a happy-go-lucky idiot. Huh…not a very good start back into the shinobi world, now is it?

* * *

Eighteen Years Prior

* * *

Konoha was desperate. The Third Shinobi World War was tipping in Iwa and Kumo's favor. It was true they both hated each other, but their common enemy, Konoha, was slowly weakening. Iwa and Kumo's advances in the war were taking a huge toll on Konoha; Konoha was sure to lose.

Hiruzen and Danzo agreed, for once, that Konoha could not afford to lose. They were an important Hidden Village after all. If they lost, the world would be thrown into even more chaos than it was in already. Iwa and Kumo would probably either take advantage of the plethora of valuable clans or kill them all.

Konoha was at the edge of annihilation and as a result, they had to play their best cards and pray to Kami that they'd be able to come out alive. These best cards, among others, included Namikaze Minato.

Hiruzen knew that despite Minato's excellent track record, he was one person, and he couldn't man all the fronts at once. Hiruzen had to make a horrible decision: deploy children, not even Genin children, but children who'd just learned how to read and write. Children who barely knew how to hold a kunai right or even channel chakra properly to avoid blowing themselves up.

Hiruzen summoned two of the best young prodigies in the village to his office later that day, along with Minato and Fugaku. Hiruzen was surprised that he'd even considered summoning the children's parents, but even in his old age he supposed that considerations of kindness were in order considering the age of the children. On another even more off to the side note, he wondered why he hadn't summoned the mothers. He shivered, remembering who they were. Those two women were two of the scariest women Konoha had to offer: Uzumaki Kushina and Uchiha Mikoto.

He took another long drag from his pipe and blew out a perfect ring as the four appeared in his office just as dawn was breaking.

"Good morning, Hokage-sama," Minato said. Fugaku gave a similar greeting.

"We don't have much time, if you haven't noticed from your recent deployments. Konoha is steadily losing ground. I need as many hands as I can get in the field as soon as I can, so I'm sorry if I come off as a bit blunt. I need to deploy Uchiha Itachi and Namikaze Sayuri and you two as well. Unfortunately, you two are going to be separated from your children so Konoha has a few hands everywhere. Minato, you're going to be near Kusa and Fugaku you're going to be near Taki. Sayuri, Itachi, you two are going to be near Suna. That is all. Do your best," Hiruzen said, his mouth bitter from having to send such kind looking children.

"Hai, Hokage-sama," the four bowed, the children a bit deeper than their fathers as they replied.

Their footsteps tapped softly on the floor and slowly grew softer, making it seem to Hiruzen as if the children's fates were being sealed. And that wasn't far from the truth either.

The moment the door closed, leaving Hiruzen in the office alone, Minato bent down to look at the two children. His kind blue eyes and smile made contact with Sayuri's grey ones and Itachi's black ones.

"We're going to be together for a day or so until we have to split up. Sayuri, you have to protect Itachi with your life. If you don't, the Uchiha clan, and even Konoha are at stake. I won't tolerate failure if Itachi is dead and you're alive. Fugaku and I—"

"That's Fugaku-san if you're going to overlook the more tolerable Uchiha-san, Namikaze-san," Fugaku corrected, irritated. The fact he had to wake up early just to receive news he had to send his prodigy son out to the front lines didn't help either.

"Fugaku and I are going to try to prepare you, but know that if anything goes wrong, Itachi has my special kunai," Minato patted Itachi's head.

"Thank you, Minato-san," Itachi said. He noticed Sayuri didn't say anything; she'd only nodded.

"Let's go, Tou-sama," Sayuri said, her face carefully devoid of emotion.

Minato nodded and was at the gates with the two children with Fugaku who was asking the two four-year-olds if they had everything. Just as they turned to leave, two women came running towards them.

"Sayuri!"

"Itachi!"

The two women handed the two children bento and an assortment of non-perishables. Mikoto and Kushina grinned at each other, glad they managed to catch their children right before they left. They hugged their children and gave a peck on the cheek to their husbands. Promptly after that, they gave their husbands a stern (well, murderous) look to promise to not let their children die _or else_. Minato didn't know what Kushina meant by 'or else' and he never wanted to find out. Fugaku sweatdropped a little as Mikoto stared him down.

"Kushina, Sayuri doesn't need all that food, she's getting pudgy from all your food; Itachi looks a little thin and pale, don't you think?" Minato took the food from Sayuri and was about to hand it to Itachi.

"Minato, please give the food back to Sayuri. Do you want her to starve?" Kushina leaned into his ear so no one else heard the next part. "I know you favor Itachi but if Sayuri dies of starvation because of you, how is she going to protect your _precious_ Uchiha?"

Minato gave her a glare before nodding and handing the food back to Sayuri. Sayuri took it back and quickly put it into her bag for safekeeping.

"Sayuri, I love you no matter what. Even if you get scared, remember you've got your mother to come back to," Kushina knelt down and whispered, "Hurry, before your father sees; this is a fuuinjutsu scroll. It'll let out lightning to shock your enemies if you apply chakra," Kushina hurriedly handed Sayuri a scroll, which the girl took with surprising speed and dexterity.

"Well, stay safe and warm, you two," the two women turned back to their pleasant and cheery selves as they waved their children off.

* * *

As the four traveled through the Land of Fire away from Konoha, Minato and Fugaku smaller scale to formulate an exercise for their children.

Sure, Sayuri and Itachi had training from both Minato and Fugaku in the shinobi arts and were at nearly the same level of skill with each other, but they hadn't seen war yet. War wasn't the kind of thing that could be prepared for in every sense just as one can't predict every outcome when rolling dice, but just the general outline of it and what is most likely to happen can be shown.

For Sayuri and Itachi, it was a three-day journey. For Minato, it was a four-day journey. For Fugaku, it was five days. So the two men had two days to prepare their children; they left the last day for them to refresh their chakra reserves.

At noon, the four stopped to take a break. Itachi and Sayuri went off to refill their canteens at a nearby stream.

"Are you okay?" Itachi asked. He'd known Sayuri for all his life considering their mothers were best friends, and he always pictured her with a smile. There was something strange about her and her father. This troubled him and made him want to know what was going on and maybe, if he could fix it.

"Yeah," Sayuri said softly. "Look, the stream is just over there," Sayuri suddenly broke into a smile and frolicked over to the water and cupped her hands. She took a grateful gulp and let out a content sigh. She pulled out her canteen and filled it with water as Itachi followed suit.

Once their canteens were full, they headed back to Minato and Fugaku. Itachi saw their father's bags and his pace quickened. As he was about to take another step, Sayuri grabbed the back of his collar and thrust him back and pushed him to the ground as an explosion rang in their ears.

Itachi pulled Sayuri up and they pulled out a kunai. Itachi tried to sense their father's chakra, but couldn't find any trace of their chakra.

The whistling of kunai pierced the air and Itachi brought his kunai up and began to parry off all the incoming kunai. He glanced at Sayuri out of the corner of his eye and saw she was fighting off some enemy. Itachi finished blocking and tried to run to Sayuri's aid after seeing the enemy nick her face, but he was kicked harshly in the stomach and flew into a tree. He let out a fire style jutsu and saw, thankfully, that Sayuri had defeated her enemy. They lay in a pool of blood and even though her face was deathly pale, she was searching the enemy for valuable items. Sayuri turned and saw Itachi was fighting a more skilled enemy than she had and ran over. The enemy saw her and nearly tripped her small frame.

Itachi glared and before the enemy had his attention back to him, Itachi sunk his kunai into soft flesh.

The surroundings suddenly shifted and they saw their fathers leaning against tree trunks sipping their water as if nothing had happened.

"Took you two a while. Shouldn't the explosion have given it away?" Minato asked.

"Genjutsu," Itachi said.  
"Right," Minato chirped. "Sayuri, you were slow. Itachi could've been killed and then what would you have done?"

Sayuri saw this as a rhetorical question and decided not to answer. However, Minato was truly asking her the question and his face darkened, as Sayuri didn't respond. Minato took a few large steps over to her and lifted her up by her collar. Itachi saw fear flash in her eyes as Minato glared harshly.

_Slap._

Minato let her drop onto the ground as she held her face with a hand and a wince.

"Please forgive me, Tou-sama," Sayuri suddenly knelt with both hands on the ground. Itachi's eyes widened as he saw that it hadn't been an ordinary slap, it had been a chakra-enhanced one that Itachi suspected would give a burn once it stopped bleeding. Her blood dripped down her cheek onto the dirt and Itachi saw how she was holding in tears and whimpers behind her calm face.

"Answer my question," Minato ordered.

"Namikaze-san, that's enough," Fugaku stepped in.

"You have no right to step in between my daughter and me," Minato said smoothly.

"I would've committed suicide because my purpose in this world is to protect the Uchiha clan heir," Sayuri said. Itachi flinched. What was she saying? What is she talking about?!

"Good answer," Minato said and left the two alone. Sayuri turned and ran to the stream, her face contorting into a pained one. She didn't let her tears fall; the salt in them would cause stinging. Sayuri knelt and splashed water on the wound, causing more pain. She stopped and clenched her fists to try to deal with the pain.

Itachi knelt by her side and tried to get a good look at her wound.

"Sayuri, let me help," Itachi took her hand in his, not caring about the blood that stained it.

Itachi pulled out a cloth from his backpack and wet it with some solution and dabbed it on her face. She shut her eyes in pain and Itachi clutched her hand as if to allow her to squeeze his hand for comfort from the pain.

When the solution made contact with the wound, the wound sizzled a little. Itachi knew it was disinfecting it but also knew it caused quite a bit of pain. Once it was sufficiently cleaned, Itachi pulled out a bandage and applied it. Sayuri sighed and cupped her hands to take another drink of water.

"What was that about?" Itachi asked, staring into her grey eyes.

"It's nothing. Tou-sama is just funny sometimes," Sayuri waved it off.

"Sayuri, you're important to me. Are you sure you're alright? I don't mean the slap, I mean overall," Itachi said.

"Uchiha-san, I'm fine, really. Thanks for worrying for me, though," Sayuri gave a lighthearted smile and stood. She gestured for Itachi to follow to get back to camp.

* * *

This kind of training continued through the day and for Sayuri and Minato, through the night. Once they'd reached the separation point where Suna was, they stopped and gave their goodbyes.

"Stay safe," Fugaku grunted out. Minato gave a smile and handed Itachi his kunai. Itachi nodded and the two children set off to Suna to aid their fellow Konoha shinobi. The two fathers watched as their children walked off, their hearts tight with pain and worry. Fugaku was mildly angry that Minato didn't express practically any concern for his daughter, who they two had agreed to sign an arranged marriage contract once they got back to Konoha. Fugaku was worrying for both children while Minato worried for Itachi.

Sayuri and Itachi concealed their chakra as they went towards a bridge, approximately 5 miles from their starting point. They were able to travel through the sparse brush that skirted the sandy desert for a time until they were forced out in the open with the hot sun beating down on their backs. Sweat dripped down their faces and by noon, they felt like their insides were cooked.

Itachi dropped to his knees and desperately drank the last of his canteen's water. Fear spread through him as he realized he didn't have any water left. He hadn't even reached the battle yet and he'd run out of perhaps the most important provision when in a desert. Sayuri handed him her canteen and miraculously pulled out a second canteen for herself from her bag. Itachi had wondered why she'd brought a rather heavy looking bag. He supposed she had more water.

A few hours later, they arrived at the Nagaoka Bridge. They saw many Suna nin lying dead on the ground and a few Konoha nin as well. They were grabbed back behind a large boulder.

"Hey, long time no see, Sayuri-chan," Obito grinned and hugged the girl. "What happened to your face? Itachi, what did you do?" Obito turned to the Uchiha boy.

"I did nothing, Obito-san," Itachi stated. "What can we do to help?"

"Sayuri-chan, what happened? You can tell me anything," Obito grinned.

"Sayuri-chan?" Rin ducked over as another explosion rang out. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine. Please, what can we do to help?" Sayuri asked.

"You can distract the enemy with something flashy while the Obito and I go and take down the bridge," Kakashi said, suddenly appearing. "Do you have something flashy?"

"Yes, I have a lightning scroll. At what signal do I activate it?" Sayuri asked Kakashi.

"You'll know when you see it," Kakashi said as he dragged Obito and Rin to the bridge. Sayuri watched as they dashed forward, easily downing Suna nin as if they were an unstoppable team. Kakashi jumped into the air and let kunai rain down as Obito and Rin attacked some other Suna nin. Kakashi glanced at Sayuri and the girl dashed out into the battle, ducking under people and confusing them. This confusion allowed the Suna shinobi's attention to be diverted because Sayuri was so young. In this instant, the Konoha shinobi struck and defeated their enemies. Sayuri crouched next to Kakashi and slammed the scroll down and applied a generous amount of chakra. Lightning raced out as Sayuri threw the scroll away from her and into the heart of a large group of Suna nin. Cries echoed out and Kakashi kicked away an enemy about to get Sayuri.

Itachi began to fight as well, jumping in as close as he could get to Sayuri. However, he was surrounded by five Suna shinobi. Itachi parried most of their attacks and used a few fire style jutsu until he began to tire. His mind was withstanding the pressure, but his body was still young and unable to keep up the way his mind wanted to. As an exploding kunai was coming, he jumped back only to knock into another Suna shinobi.

Sayuri managed to slip between people's legs and hop over on their heads to Itachi's place. She gripped a kunai in her hand and weaved signs for a mild genjutsu. She grabbed Itachi and threw him as hard as she could towards Kakashi. He glared at Sayuri for making him look up during an intense fight, but caught the Uchiha nonetheless.

Sayuri weaved more signs for a water style jutsu and the ground became slick enough for the Suna shinobi to slip and fall. As Sayuri slit a few of their throats, she froze as her hands shook and was about to be slammed on the ground headfirst before Obito snatched her away. _What have I done?!_

He placed her behind a boulder and let out a huge fireball.

Three hours later, Konoha was victorious at the Nagaoka Bridge. Blood covered everything, the ground, the dead bodies, Sayuri, and Itachi. Sayuri's eyes dulled with the sight of so much blood and cries of pain and anguish and revenge. Explosions' blasts still rang in her ears and she wished she could just get away and forget everything. Once it was over, Sayuri was about to fall asleep from chakra exhaustion when Minato arrived, shocking her nerves and pushing sleep far, far away.

"I see Itachi is alright," Minato noted as Itachi stood by Sayuri, whose red hair was caked with dirt and mud and was singed.  
"Minato-sensei, I beat all these guys! Kakashi was there too but I was amazing!" Obito grinned. Kakashi whacked him on the head and glared.

"What're you talking about, idiot? I did everything," Kakashi corrected.

"Come along, we're going back to Konoha," Minato said as his team and the two children made a circle and disappeared in a flash.

* * *

Sayuri wished she could make the terrible things she saw today, and the things she'd see over the next year, disappear as quickly as her father's Hiraishin.

The images of war had taken their toll on Sayuri and Itachi. As Itachi and Sayuri walked through the village to try to distract themselves from the wave of pain, they held hands as a way of comfort.

They found the dango shop and took a seat and ordered two plates of dango and tea. Silence filled the space between them until the dango came and the two chewed slowly, their eyes darting from customer to customer.

"Itachi," Sayuri said suddenly as she put down her unfinished skewer. Itachi turned his head to look at her, surprised she'd used his first name and even more so without any suffixes.

"Yeah?" Itachi asked, giving his full attention.

"The war…it ended today but we're never going to forget it. Konoha almost lost and we can't let that happen. We have to protect Konoha with everything we have no matter what. Also, what we saw…we can't let Konoha turn into that. Promise me you'll stay by my side and protect Konoha?" Sayuri asked. Itachi swore he saw her face turn a light shade of pink, but he pinned it up to the blood that marred her face.

Itachi smiled. "Yeah. I promise."

Sayuri thanked him and finished the last piece of dango and put enough money to pay for both hers and Itachi's meal on the table and left. The two walked through the streets of Konoha with no endpoint in mind. They eventually ended up at the Uchiha District.

"Well, good night, Uchiha-san," Sayuri said as she bowed lightly.

The girl walked home slowly, not wanting to go home. She knew it was selfish to let her mother be alone with her father, but she couldn't help herself. Unconsciously, a hand touched her face and she bit her lip. _I hope Kaa-san is alright._

Sayuri opened the door and braced herself for the reprimands she'd get from Minato the moment she was spotted.

"Where have you been?" Minato asked. "Actually, no, I don't want to know."

Sayuri picked at her rice until Minato told her to go to bed. Sayuri nodded and walked away, holding her arms tight. Kushina looked at her daughter with guilt as she turned and began to clean up dinner. Minato took another seat on the couch and began to read the newspaper and some mission reports Hiruzen wanted his careful eye to look over.

Sayuri wasn't able to sleep for long. Her dreams were filled with brutal and bloody deaths. Sometimes, she'd see Itachi or Obito cursing her for not protecting them. Then, another dream consisted of seeing Minato being overly kind to her and praising her and teaching her new jutsu and letting her eat and rest as much as she wanted.

As Rin tried to kill her for letting Kakashi and Obito die, Sayuri woke up in a cold sweat, breathing hard. Her eyes darted around and it took a few moments before she could realize it was simply a dream. She pulled her knees up to her chest and cried silent tears into her blankets.

Sayuri hopped off her bed and went to the small balcony she had where she cared for a tiny lily plant. The lily had a nice white color that seemed to glow in the moonlight. The cool night air blew through her red hair and she ran her fingers through it lazily.


	2. Seventeen Years Prior

Summary: On October 10th, Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina died, leaving behind two children. Sixteen years later, when Minato is revived, he's in for quite a shock. For starters, one of his children is an Akatsuki member and the other is a happy-go-lucky idiot. Huh…not a very good start back into the shinobi world, now is it?

* * *

Seventeen Years Prior

* * *

Kushina woke Sayuri up before the sun rose the next morning. She pushed Sayuri into a shower where the water hadn't warmed up yet and quickly washed the shivering girl's body and long red hair.

After toweling the girl down, she began to warm up after she was dressed in a formal kimono. Kushina ran a brush through the girl's hair and summoned chakra to her hands as she pinned her hair up to dry it a little faster. To avoid staining the kimono, Kushina carefully spooned miso soup with wakame into Sayuri's yawning mouth.

In the few moments they had before departing, the two looked in the mirror and Sayuri cracked a smile. It was the first smile Kushina had seen since she'd come back from the war and a wave of relief washed over the young mother's mind.

Kushina was wearing a sparsely decorated kimono with the Namikaze crest on a blue background with white cranes on the bottom. The obi was a dark purple with tiny bells stitched on. Sayuri's kimono was much more decorated with gold outlined lilies on a green background with ocean waves crashing on rocks on the bottom. The obi was orange with small white koi fish on a lavender background.

Kushina tucked back a strand of hair and kissed her daughter's forehead. Sayuri looked a bit shocked; it had been sudden, but she gave her mother what she wanted: a smile.

"Let's go! We can't let them wait all day!" Minato yelled from the front door. Kushina pulled Sayuri along, their smiles fading into masks of calm expressions.

"You look presentable," Minato noted as he looked at his daughter. She muttered a thank you and they were off.

It was about 6am in Konoha. Minato had wanted to go early in the morning since he had some meeting with Jiraiya. Sayuri had no idea of why her father was dragging them around Konoha, but could care less. She figured he had some other plans and that would leave her more time to train with Itachi or something.

Sayuri's kimono, like pretty much all kimono, was constricting. Each step was a third of her usual stride so Kushina had to pull her along. A few minutes later, they arrived at their destination: the Uchiha Compound. The guards nodded at Minato and the small family was let in. They turned many corners and finally walked down a long pathway with the Uchiha crest on pretty much everything.

Sayuri knew Minato liked his Namikaze crest with a ship on it. But the Uchiha outshone his love for his crest by a lot. Even the clothes the Uchiha clansmen had the Uchiha crest on it.

Kushina and Mikoto exchanged words and disappeared, leaving Sayuri alone with Minato. Sayuri internally sighed. Where had her mother gone? Why was she leaving her alone with Minato? Minato led her to a room where Itachi and Fugaku were waiting. Fugaku and Itachi were dressed up as well and Sayuri was beginning to get a bad feeling about this.

Sayuri and Itachi knelt behind their fathers and silently exchanged looks of confusion. Minato and Fugaku pulled out identical scrolls and signed both in ink. Then, they bit their thumbs and let the blood flow a bit until it was enough to spread between all their fingers. They applied their reddened fingers to the scrolls and left two sets of fingerprints.

Neither Sayuri nor Itachi dared ask what it was; their fathers already looked serious enough to snap back at the simple question. Plus, they figured that if they were present for such an ordinary looking (except for the fact they were dressed up and the scrolls looked official and ceremonial and they were leaving blood—perhaps it wasn't ordinary after all…) meeting, they'd be included eventually.

Minato and Fugaku turned to Sayuri and Itachi, respectively, and had them move forward and sign the scrolls. Their eyes scanned over the words and they froze as they made desperate and alarmed eye contact.

"Tou-san, is this a betrothal contract?" Itachi asked for both of their benefit.

"Yes. Namikaze-san, you may explain if you like," Fugaku said, shifting in his kimono with the Uchiha crest on it a bit.

"Sayuri isn't the kind of child as I had hoped. However, since she already has some standing being my, the Kiiroi Senkō's, daughter I can't just let that potential go to waste. So because Itachi, you're the kind of child I had wanted, your father and I decided to unite my power with the Uchiha's power. In this way, I hope to have your desirable qualities rub off on her and maybe in the future my grandchildren won't be like Sayuri," Minato explained. "Now, to sign it, just follow what Fugaku and I did with the ink and blood. Sayuri, don't drip ink blots on the paper and don't let your blood drop into these tatami mats."

"Yes, Tou-sama," Sayuri said as she and Itachi began to sign the scrolls. Minato's eyes narrowed as the two finished signing both at the same time. The two children moved back and the two men sealed up the scrolls with blood seals, meaning only Sayuri, Itachi, Fugaku, or Minato could open the scrolls.

"Well, I've got an important meeting, Fugaku. I'm quite sure our wives are gossiping about something trivial so when Kushina leaves you can shove Sayuri out with her," Minato said as he stood and left. Sayuri cast her eyes down and this didn't go unnoticed by Itachi. Fugaku looked a bit stunned that Minato just, in essence left his kid here, but he simply sighed, picked up the scrolls, left to change, and tend to his duties as the Chief of Police. Sayuri didn't move from her position until Itachi pulled her up by her arm. She looked up and mumbled an apology and that Itachi didn't have to bother himself with someone like her. Itachi frowned and led her a large pond.

"This is where I sometimes practice fire style jutsu. I think you can practice your water style jutsu here," Itachi said. "Also, whenever I have something on my mind that's bothering me I come here and I just sit and stare at the pond."

Sayuri looked at him with a shocked expression. She didn't think Itachi would so openly tell her something personal like this, but she simply composed herself with a smile and looked at the pond.

"It's really pretty," Sayuri commented.

"If there's anything bothering you, you can always tell me," Itachi said.

"Uchiha-san…" Sayuri turned back to look at him with an even more astonished expression.

"I—" Itachi was about to explain himself before being cut off as he turned his head to look at the sudden noise.

"Itachi! Sayuri! We have snacks!" Mikoto and Kushina yelled from the house. Sayuri let out a sigh of acquiescence with a soft smile. She pulled Itachi up and walked as quickly as she could to the house. Itachi noticed how she was struggling a little and managed to catch her as she tripped over a rock.

"You okay?" Itachi asked.

"Yes," Sayuri said. "Thank you."

"Yeah," Itachi said as they slipped off their shoes again and entered the house.

"Now that I get a good look at you, you're adorable. Fugaku can be a bit unemotional but I suppose he married me because I'm the opposite of him when I can be. I doubt those two explained the rules of the contract. Sit and eat while I explain," Mikoto said, ushering them inside and handing them ohagi.

Sayuri and Itachi nibbled at their ohagi as Mikoto began her explanation.

"The contract lasts until you two get married, which is hopefully when you two are seventeen. If you don't get married when you're seventeen, the contract basically dissolves and you can marry whomever you like. Also, if something is to happen to the Uchiha Clan or Kushina and Minato, you two are going to be taken in by either party. I think that's it…" Mikoto said.

A cry suddenly pierced the silence. Mikoto perked up and smiled.

"Oh, that's Sasuke. Sayuri, Kushina, do you want to meet him?" Mikoto asked.

"Yeah!" Kushina said and followed her friend to the baby's room. Sayuri and Itachi followed Kushina and Mikoto. Kushina looked extremely excited to see her friend's second child as she practically pranced around.

Mikoto told Kushina to calm down otherwise she'd scare the baby, who was very temperamental. She gently handed Kushina the child, who immediately shut up and babbled and laughed as he pulled on the long strands of bright red hair. Mikoto asked if Sayuri wanted to hold her '_little brother'_, to which the girl nodded and the baby stared into Sayuri's grey eyes with surprise. He saw the red strands of hair and reached out to tug only to find that it was carefully pinned up. Sasuke pouted but instead of crying as Mikoto and Itachi had expected, he gurgled as Sayuri sat and bounced him on her lap and hummed a song. The three watched Sayuri with surprise and once Sayuri was finished with her song, she playfully poked the baby's stomach.

Sasuke gave another howl of laughter and stopped abruptly. He looked at Sayuri with a look akin to an expectant look. Sayuri teased him saying how he was a bit of a greedy baby but continued to tickle the baby. Sasuke let out howls of laughter and eventually fell back asleep in Sayuri's arms. Sayuri's eyes also began to droop and the two women laughed a little before Mikoto took Sasuke back and Kushina shook Sayuri awake.

"He likes you," Mikoto noted. "A lot."

Kushina paused for a moment before grinning.

"What?" Mikoto asked as the three moved back to the table to eat snacks and drink tea. Kushina grinned devilishly and bit her lip to keep from laughing.

"Spill it," Mikoto ordered.

"I'm having another baby," Kushina said in a fast breath before slapping a hand over her mouth as if what she'd said was forbidden.

"Really?" Mikoto asked. "Do you know the gender yet?"

"It's too early to tell," Kushina sighed as she took more sweets and ate them like a vacuum. After a minute, she looked like a squirrel. Sayuri resisted the urge to laugh as she looked at her mother.

"We should have a party! To celebrate both Itachi and Sayuri and your pregnancy!" Mikoto cheered. "We should do it a month before you're due." The two women began to chatter about arrangements and people to invite and decorations and budgets and other things regarding the party. Once they'd set most of the details in place, Kushina and Sayuri left.

* * *

At night, Minato hadn't come back yet. This left Kushina and Sayuri together, able to voice concerns they'd hidden for so long. Almost all of these 'concerns' (complaints) regarded Minato.

"Kaa-san, why is Tou-sama the way he is? Why doesn't he like me? And, I know you can be really scary sometimes with your hair floating and that potent killing aura so why don't you set him in his place?" Sayuri asked as the two sat at the low table in their pajamas. Both sets of pajamas had the Uzumaki crest on it, something Minato grudgingly let the two wear on occasion even though he claimed the Namikaze crest was better (to which Sayuri thought was stupid since if his was a ship and her mother's was a whirlpool and whirlpools rip ships apart, doesn't that mean the Uzumaki crest is better?).

"Your father used to be such a kind man. I don't know what changed though. When you were born, he was so happy. When you started to grow up and speak, something changed and he didn't like what he saw anymore. I don't set him in his place because…oh, never mind," Kushina waved it off.

"Kaa-san, Tou-sama has taught me a lot of fuuinjutsu, but I know you know lots of special secret seals. Could you teach me sometime?" Sayuri asked as she began to draw ibises on a sheet of paper. Kushina gave a soft chuckle and nodded.

"I love you Sayuri," Kushina smiled and reached over to pat her daughter's head. Sayuri let out a small smile of gratefulness and kept on drawing. Sayuri was about to repeat the sentiments but Minato came walking in.

"I have great news," Minato announced, his face beamed at both his wife and daughter. Sayuri felt a little flicker of hope when she saw he looked so happy and he wanted her to be happy with him.

"I've been named the Yondaime Hokage! The ceremony is tomorrow. I'll announce your betrothal to Itachi that day too, Sayuri," Minato smiled. "Isn't this great?"

"Minato, Mikoto and I planned a party to celebrate my pregnancy and Itachi and Sayuri's engagement," Kushina said. "Maybe after your ceremony you can come and then there will be a huge party for all of us?"

"Sorry, I promised the guys I'd go drinking with them after. Maybe after the party with you and Mikoto and when I come home at some insane hour we can have a small celebration, the three of us?" Minato asked as he sat next to Kushina and draped an arm over Kushina's shoulders. She leaned into him and let out a content sigh. Minato smiled back at her and Sayuri glanced back down to her drawing to give a few more details to the ibis.

* * *

A few months later, Kushina's belly had begun to protrude. Minato was overjoyed to learn that it was a boy. Every morning or so, he'd sing some kind of ridiculous prayer to Kushina's stomach. Then he'd disappear to his mountains of paperwork and during the day, Sayuri attended the Academy.

Sayuri had hoped that with the changes in the village and her family that Minato would stick to his change. However, he didn't. Instead, he'd gotten even harsher and trained her until she could barely move.

In the Academy, she was teased for her bright red hair and her engagement to Itachi. Even the teacher poked fun at it. Sayuri would simply turn away and allow the bullies' words slip off her. Sayuri was just glad that her and Itachi were graduating that year; Minato had allowed them a special exception to graduate early. Sayuri and Itachi had spent roughly a year and a half in the Academy and were always tied at the top.

As Sayuri was walking out of the Academy with her hitai-ate on her forehead, a group of angry Academy students, all girls, had gathered. Sayuri found herself roughly shoved against a wall.

"You think you're all that cause you're the Hokage's daughter and you're engaged to Itachi-kun? You know what we think? We all think your engagement is a lie! You must've manipulated your father to say all those things because he's too soft on you to say otherwise and as a result you get your way with everything, like passing the Academy at six!" a girl ripped Sayuri's hitai-ate off her her head and threw it on the ground and stomped on it.

The skies darkened and it began to rain but no lightning or thunder came. It was simple rain.

Sayuri's hair began to get soaked and as she was trying to push it out of the way so she could see her attackers and beat them to the ground they grabbed her arms and held her legs down. She glanced to her left and right and down in confusion and then looked up and saw another girl with a strange glint in her eye bring out a kunai, a real one instead of the dulled ones in the Academy. She held it with a huge grin on her face and brought her arm down towards Sayuri's undefended stomach.

Sayuri bit back a small cry, thinking she'd been hit, but looked down and saw nothing but…glowing chains. Chains that were connected to her…and were made of chakra. She looked up and saw the girl had been restrained with the chains and was crying out in pain. Sayuri dissolved them and took a few steps back, and fell into an advanced taijutsu stance her father had taught her.

"You bitch!" the girls cried out and charged at her with real kunai, all of them. Sayuri was beginning to think that this was more than just a petty infatuation and jealously problem.

Sayuri found that their taijutsu skills were nearly more skilled than her own. She gritted her teeth and summoned a large amount of chakra to try to beat them. There were around ten girls but as time went on, it proved that it was just a henge. The girls, no, women, weren't even Konoha ninjas. Sayuri grabbed her hitai-ate and ran for the Academy gates, for the Hokage.

"Well, I suppose the deal Minato and I had didn't work…maybe you're one of those late bloomers?" a man purred behind her. Sayuri found that she couldn't move to get away. Fear rushed through her veins again as the man knelt by her and rubbed her cheek gently with a thumb.

"I guess that's okay. Those chakra chains looked interesting though. You managed to burn my subordinate," his yellow eyes and pale skin and extremely potent killing aura sent chills down Sayuri's spine. _Why isn't anyone here? _

"We'll meet again," the man promised and vanished. Sayuri fell to her knees and promptly vomited into some bushes. She shakily stood and kept walking towards the Hokage tower until it occurred to her: the man was in league with Minato and he made it seem as if the attack was planned, if the henge and foreign nin hitai-ate didn't give it away sooner. Sayuri stopped as the gates of the Hokage tower and turned and ran home. Perhaps her mother knew…

_No, I can't tell Kaa-san. She might let it slip to Tou-sama I know or the shock that Minato is doing this might make her lose the baby. I don't want to worry her when she's already got so much on her mind._

Kushina looked up at Sayuri and scolded her for not coming home sooner and she'd told her it was going to rain and asked why Sayuri hadn't brought an umbrella. Kushina sighed and threw Sayuri into a warm bath and prepared dinner.

Sayuri watched the tap slowly let out a drop every ten seconds dully. The sound was calming. She pulled up her knees to her chest and blew bubbles in the water. Sayuri liked the way it was quiet except for the drop that normally would've sounded so quiet was the loudest thing in the room besides the rhythmic sound of her heartbeat.

After twenty minutes of sitting in the warm bathwater, Sayuri let the water drain and wrapped a towel around her cold body and slipped into plain green pajamas. She put a towel over her shoulders and back to catch the moisture from her hair and rubbed a sleepy eye as she took a seat at the dining table.

"How was the Academy today?" Minato asked. "Did you pass?" His tone of voice sounded as if she said otherwise there would be less than pleasant consequences.

"Yes," Sayuri said as she chewed a rehydrated shiitake mushroom from her udon bowl. Minato didn't ask any more questions. He seemed even more disappointed in her than usual and he made no attempt to mask his glower. Sayuri had never felt a stronger urge to punch him and demand to know what was so wrong with her.

* * *

As Sayuri was drifting off to sleep, she heard two voices talking outside her window. Her curiosity piqued, she crept over and eavesdropped. They didn't seem to notice that Sayuri was listening to their conversation.

"…so she didn't unlock her Sharingan? Even after all the passes I gave you to come in and out of the village as you pleased in exchange for bringing out the potential in her Uzumaki blood?" a familiar voice asked angrily.

"Minato, I promise you my labors will not go to waste," a slick voice purred. "She's rather good at espionage too, concealing her chakra like this."

Sayuri flinched and turned and ran for her door to get her mother's help. Before she was even two steps away from the window, a hand roughly grabbed the back of her collar and she was pulled up outside through the window. After hitting the roof hard enough to break some tiles, she pushed herself up and looked at the two people who gave her apathetic looks.

"Tou-sama, who is this man?" Sayuri asked, pushing out fear from her voice otherwise Minato might not answer.

"This is one of the Legendary Sannin, Orochimaru," Minato said. "He's been very generous."

"Generous?" Sayuri repeated.

"Minato, let me explain to the child. When you were two and three, Minato was generous enough to allow me into the village for whatever I wanted in exchange for you. You are half Uzumaki, a clan that is cousin to the Uchiha and Senju. It has been centuries since a full Uzumaki unlocked the Sharingan, and with a half-Uzumaki like you it is even harder to unlock the Sharingan. However, I experimented on you to try to bring out that potential. That attack after you came out of the Academy today was a simple test. I suppose it wasn't good enough. I have to go do much more research so I won't be around for a while," Orochimaru said as he disappeared into the shadows. For a moment Minato had a slightly anguished look but that vanished into a scowl directed at Sayuri.

"Tou-sama…" Sayuri said. _What am I to you? A tool?!_

"Go to sleep. If I catch you eavesdropping again there will be consequences," Minato warned. Sayuri nodded meekly and dropped into her room and curled up under the covers. Silent tears rolled down her face and she bit her lip until her mouth tasted metallic to not cry out.

So it turns out that Minato was simply using Sayuri. Sayuri wondered if Minato ever cared for her. By the looks of things, it was really starting to look like Minato was using her just for his sake.

* * *

Being the Hokage meant that Minato was a rather influential person. Even as simply a fellow ninja, people felt his leader-like aura. Fugaku wasn't unaffected; Itachi was beginning to be used in a similar way. Fugaku had always pushed Itachi to be the best, but that was simply because he was a proud parent. And an Uchiha. Now, Fugaku was having other motives for pushing Itachi; the boy had so much potential to serve the Uchiha clan. The Uchiha clan was also discriminated against and even it was a small portion of Konoha who did this Fugaku wanted them to be crushed. So if Itachi had potential and there was a problem, Itachi could be used to deter the problem or crush if necessary.

In the back of Fugaku's mind he thought experimenting on a child, like Minato and Sayuri, might be going a bit too far but Itachi at least would activate his Sharingan. If Sayuri ended up stronger from the experiments and Itachi would be as strong as Fugaku was hoping, then the Uchiha clan would benefit greatly. Now, if only Minato would tell him more about the experiments. They sounded promising.

In the morning, Sayuri's eyes shot open and she sent out waves of chakra to sense if Minato or Orochimaru were there. She relaxed and allowed herself a moment to lay there in silence. Her ears rang with the sound of silence until her mother called her for breakfast.

Sayuri quickly downed her breakfast after getting dressed and as soon as Kushina handed her bento to her, she was off to meet her team in the Academy. She knew she'd be on a team with people older than her, at least one person anyway. As she jumped across rooftops to get to the Academy, a small strange thought occurred to her: _I wonder if Itachi will be on my team._

Sayuri slapped her cheeks and shook the thought out of her mind. She landed on the ground and walked into the Academy and into her classroom where other graduates were. She took a seat and waited for the teacher to come in.

As she was quietly waiting, a person came up behind her and was probably about to hit her or something so she retaliated by catching their arm and nearly throwing them over her onto the ground. Nearly.

"Whoa, whoa, calm down," the person said, holding their hands up in peace.

Sayuri took a look at the person and her grey eyes widened as an apology tumbled out of her mouth, resulting in a hearty laugh from the boy behind her.

"What's so funny?" Sayuri asked, moving over so the boy could sit next to her.

"You're Sayuri, right? I'm Uchiha Shisui, Itachi's cousin. I can't believe he kept you all to himself and never introduced me to you; I'm way more interesting. He can be a real bore sometimes but he's really good at…everything," Shisui looked thoughtful at the end.

"I see. I'm Namikaze Sayuri. It's nice to meet you, Uchiha-san," Sayuri gave a smile.

"Shisui, what are you doing?" Itachi asked as Shisui poked Sayuri's forehead. She held it with her hand and gave Shisui a perplexed look.

"I was just introducing myself cause _someone _was being stingy. She's so nice, too. From what I hear from the other clan kids, she's the one who saved your ass in the war," Shisui snickered.

"Alright class, settle down! I'm going to read off the team placements so if anyone wants to drop out now, please keep talking!" the teacher yelled sarcastically after walking in. Once everyone had settled down, he began.

"Team 5: Uchiha Itachi, Namikaze Sayuri, and Uchiha Shisui," the teacher said a few minutes later.

Shisui grinned wickedly at Itachi and managed to poke Itachi's forehead with stunning speed and force. It left a pink mark on his forehead and Itachi gave Shisui an unreadable look. Sayuri looked at Shisui as if he'd just committed a crime and resisted the urge to laugh. Shisui turned back smugly as if he'd just gotten away with it. Sayuri looked at Itachi's face and Shisui's face and saw that Itachi wasn't going to let him get away with that.


	3. Sixteen Years Prior

Summary: On October 10th, Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina died, leaving behind two children. Sixteen years later, when Minato is revived, he's in for quite a shock. For starters, one of his children is an Akatsuki member and the other is a happy-go-lucky idiot. Huh…not a very good start back into the shinobi world, now is it?

* * *

Sixteen Years Prior

* * *

The sun looked almost blood red surrounded by fiery orange clouds. Kakashi clenched his fist and looked at it. Even though he'd woken up so many times in a cold sweat crying out and washed his hands for hours, it didn't seem to make the blood wash off. Kakashi knelt and replaced the flowers by the grave. He put his hands in his pockets in a futile attempt to make the pain and broken promise to Obito go away.

"Rin, I know I'm not supposed to tell anyone, but I guess you'd want to know since you're the iryo-nin. Minato-sensei's wife, Kushina, is having a baby soon. I don't know how spirit things work but I think you're going to be there for her I guess," Kakashi said. He looked wistfully at Rin's grave for another moment before turning and walking away.

Some time later when the sun was a short time away from vanishing from the skies, Sayuri came walking up. She held a small bouquet of lilies and placed them in the container with Kakashi's flowers.

"Nohara-san, I bet Hatake-san came by earlier and he probably didn't tell you what was really on his mind. He's strange that way, coming by for the sole purpose of telling you something important and then at the last moment decides not to. I just hope you're resting in peace, even with his strange way of telling you he remembers you," Sayuri sighed. As she turned on a heel to head home after an extremely exhausting training session with Itachi and Shisui, a hand grabbed her arm roughly. She had a kunai in her hand in the next instant and was swinging her arm in an arc towards the person.

Before she could blink, she was on the ground with a heavy foot on her back and both of her arms twisted behind her. She winced, hoping he wouldn't break her arms.

"You will take me to where Kushina is giving birth or Konoha gets destroyed, with your whole family burned personally by me," the person, no older than a teen ordered. "If you don't answer right now, I'll break your arms and perhaps more than that."

Sayuri was speechless for a moment. Another sharp tug on her arms motivated an answer to come. "Yes. I'll tell you anything."

The teen flinched for a moment as if her words triggered a memory. Sayuri could practically see the scowl on his face. After hearing the words he wanted to hear, he grabbed Sayuri by her collar and stared into her eyes.

_The Sharingan…_

"If you tell anyone I'm here, I'll destroy the entire Uchiha clan including your beloved Itachi," the teen said. Sayuri nodded and he let go of her collar. She was about to be glad she was the ground when a punch made contact with her stomach and she crumpled to the ground, holding her stomach and gritting her teeth, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of knowing he'd hurt her. She looked up to the teen and saw he meant _now_. Sayuri lunged out to punch him back but she fell on her face, not expecting his body to disappear. The teen simply let the fact he was practically invincible sink in as she got up.

Sayuri pulled out a different kunai with three prongs. She held out a hand for the teen to take and after a moment he took it. She closed her eyes and focused for a moment before they disappeared to appear in front of an area with large red pillars.

"Please…don't hurt anyone," Sayuri said. "Not even Tou-sama."

"I've seen how he treats you. That bastard deserves to die today," the teen sneered.

Sayuri clenched her fists and looked at the water under her feet. Her hair cast a shadow on her face and she turned. Her grip around the kunai tightened and she disappeared.

Sayuri reappeared in her home to see Kushina was about to leave. For a moment on Sayuri's face, guilt and fear were clear. Kushina cocked her head as Sayuri's face returned to its normal calm and cheery form.  
"Sayuri, I'm going to be fine. I was fine with you so I don't know why you're so nervous. Plus, your father is going to be there to make sure nothing bad happens," Kushina said. Sayuri let out a shaky breath and nodded. Kushina kissed the top of Sayuri's head and walked out. When the door clicked closed, Sayuri dropped to her knees and cried on the floor. Her fists beat on the floor and she let out angry and guilty sobs.

After what felt like an eternity but was simply an hour, Sayuri brought herself up and wiped her face with the back of her hand. Sayuri made herself tea to try to calm down only to find that the cup cracked. She bit back another sob, hoping that nothing bad would happen.

She knew that hoping couldn't prevent something that was entirely her fault. Something bad was going to happen if that strange teen's powers were any indication. Sayuri ran to gather extra ninja tools and ran out of the house. Sayuri was still drained from her training session with Itachi and Shisui and from using the Hiraishin. She had less than a ten percent chance of getting the place right and only Kami knew how she'd pulled it off. Even if she hadn't gotten it right she would've been low on chakra.

So here she was, not wanting to take the risk of using the Hiraishin again. She ran through the village, desperate to find her parents, hoping they'd be done and her baby brother would be safe.

Sayuri's body crashed into a glass window and she slammed into racks of merchandise and her skin crawled with some kind of horrible chakra. She hissed in pain and pushed herself to her knees. She looked up and saw the orange fur of some kind of beast. She ran out of the window she'd been blasted into as a result of the sudden wave of horrible chakra.

As she jumped on a building to get a better look at how big the beast was, a cry died in her throat as she saw that it had no less than nine tails. It was the most feared of all the beasts, the Kyuubi.

Her mind raced with a million questions. Before she could begin to answer any of them, the Kyuubi disappeared after a dense chakra ball had disappeared into the Minato's stony Hokage monument face. Sayuri deduced that it was probably her father doing away with the purplish chakra ball.

Then the Kyuubi, along with her father, disappeared. Sayuri frowned and raced around confused and angry shinobi and civilians. It took her a long time, a painfully long time to find her parents. She raced past a group of Genin and Chuunin and found herself a moment too late. A seal circled around her parents and the Kyuubi. As she watched from the shadows, her mother began to argue, angrily and with passion, with her father. Minato looked genuinely shocked that Kushina was arguing with him but let out a resigning chuckle.

"I'm sorry, Kushina," Minato said and began to explain the Bijuu balance and other dangers of letting her die with the Kyuubi. Kushina growled as her eyes glared at Minato's back. Suddenly Kushina began to cough up blood and she seemed to tighten her grip around a small bundle of cloth. Sayuri squinted to get a better look at what it was. Minato weaved signs and an apparition appeared behind him as he sealed the Kyuubi into himself. Sayuri was expecting the Kyuubi to disappear completely but instead it only decreased in size by half.

At this point, Sayuri finally noticed the chakra chains protruding from her mother's back. When the Kyuubi decreased by half, the chains loosened and a scream came out of Sayuri's mouth.  
"No!" Sayuri dropped to her knees and held her eyes with her hands. They burned for a moment before everything became crystal clear. She saw chakra from her parents and the Kyuubi and a tiny amount from the baby.

"Sayuri…you've done it!" Minato looked up. "A success!"

Sayuri didn't respond. She was too intent listening to her mother give her final words to the baby. Minato ended up giving the baby his last words.

"Hakke Fuuin," Minato said as the last half of the Kyuubi disappeared, along with Kushina's chakra chains in a burst of light. Once the seal was dissolved, Sayuri ran to her mother's side. Tears flowed out of Sayuri's eyes and her hands trembled as they held her mother's hands.

"Move!" a commanding voice yelled. Sayuri looked up and saw a woman running up and kneeling by Kushina. A bright green glow was emitted from her hands and Kushina seemed to be able to breathe easier. Within twenty minutes, the busty blonde woman had been able to stop the bleeding, but not close the wound.

"I'm sorry Kushina-chan; I wasn't able to come sooner. You have at least two hours until the effects of being impaled by a Bijuu kicks in and your other injuries and then you die," the woman said, picking up the red haired woman.

"Sayuri…get Naruto," Kushina whispered to Sayuri. Sayuri nodded and picked up the screaming baby.

* * *

In the hospital, Kushina was given her own room. In her arms was Naruto wrapped in blankets and Sayuri laid next to her on the hospital bed. Tsunade, as Sayuri heard, left them alone to have a few last words.

"Kaa-san, my eyes stung earlier," Sayuri said after a long pause of silence. She pumped chakra to her eyes again and felt the similar burning sensation again, but this time less intense.

"Sayuri…that's the Sharingan. How…" Kushina grabbed her daughter's face and peered into the single tomoe eyes.

Sayuri looked at her hands as they gripped the itchy bed sheets.

"I don't know," Sayuri lied.

"Anyway Sayuri, my time is getting shorter and shorter. All of my fuuinjutsu scrolls and Uzumaki history scrolls and your father's jutsu scrolls are all in the bookcase or in a secret place under the tatami mat under Minato's futon. I trust you to be able to learn the greatest jutsu there is, Uzumaki Fuuinjutsu," Kushina smiled as she ran her fingers through her daughter's hair.

"Let me get the boring stuff out of the way: promise me you'll protect Naruto. He's going to have a lot of hardship and difficult and lonely times but can you promise me you'll be there for him?" Kushina asked. Sayuri nodded mutely, wanting to allow her mother's heart some ease, even if the ease came in a form of a lie.

Sayuri wasn't going to be able to protect Naruto. She knew that. She was too young to change her name to Uzumaki and even if she did, many across the Five Nations knew she was Minato's daughter. That already posed a risk to Sayuri's life now that Minato was dead, allowing nearly a decade of revenge to be passed on to her (for example, all the widows from the 1,000 man Iwa attack vs. Minato).

Then, if Naruto were allowed to live with her, he'd be targeted. If they succeeded, Konoha would lose its jinchuuriki and that would lead to huge problems as Sayuri recalled from Minato's speech to Kushina. If they didn't succeed, they might find out about Naruto being the jinchuuriki and send more forces to get him.

Sayuri knew at her current level of power, she was no match for any of her father's revenge-filled enemies. They'd kill her in an instant.

"Sayuri, do you know why your father and I named you and your brother your names?" Kushina asked. Sayuri shook her head.

"On our wedding day, I had a bouquet of small lilies. So, 'sa' for small and 'yuri' for lily. So, 小百合. That's when your father and I thought of 'Sayuri' when I was pregnant with you. As for Naruto, his name comes from a book that Jiraiya, your father's sensei, wrote. 'The Tales of a Gutsy Ninja.' The main character is strong but cares for his friends. It's a good book even though it didn't sell well. Speaking of Jiraiya, you should avoid him and his perverted ways. If you ever see him in the village, kick his ass for me, ne?" Kushina laughed a little.

Kushina sighed and her grey eyes began to close. "I love you, Sayuri."

Sayuri's eyes went wide. Her first instinct was to yell out, but instead she bit back a sob. "I love you too, Kaa-san."

A smile graced Kushina's lips as Kushina's two hours were up and she died with a smile on her face. Sayuri let out a scream of anger and something else she couldn't identify. Her eyes began to burn even more painfully and she covered her eyes with her hands as tears came once more.

Sayuri's memory of the rest of that night was blurry. A strong arm picked her up and wiped away her tears. A cry rang out from what she figured was a baby and nurses and doctors rushed around with glowing green hands. The one clear memory she had was seeing her mother on the bed, her face stark white and a doctor declaring her dead. Then darkness overcame the young girl and she awoke to a dark room with no one by her side.

Sayuri blinked. _What happened?_ Then all the memories of her parents' death came flooding back. She let out a small cry as she shut her eyes.

She looked up and saw a window. With a shaking mental state and shaking hands, she got up and jumped out. Sayuri landed on the ground hard. Her arm screamed in pain but she didn't care. Each step was agony as she tried to walk home.

When she managed to find her home, she walked through the door and collapsed on the floor. She looked around and saw nothing had changed. Her stomach growled and her throat was dry. She couldn't push herself up due to her arm turning an angry purplish color so she crawled on the floor. She pulled herself up to the table and found a teapot, cold, but filled with extremely concentrated tea. She drank out of the teapot and felt the jolt of caffeine.

After staring at nothing for an immeasurable amount of time, a hand rested on her shoulder. Sayuri heard her name being called out a few times before they gave up and took a seat to stare at her from across the table. They took a look at the teapot and probably said something. Sayuri didn't know.

_"Sayuri!"_

Sayuri blinked as her shoulder was shaken roughly, causing tendrils of pain to shoot up. She yelped. Warm black eyes met with her empty grey ones and she felt her body being lifted. Voices sounded muffled around her and some sounded alarmed. Sayuri stared at her hands even as she was sitting in the bath and a person washing her hair and cleaning her arm.

"Sayuri…rules…Uchiha…" a gentle female voice said as she slipped clean clothes on Sayuri.

Sayuri shook her head, not hearing completely. She looked up finally to see who was talking and saw it was Mikoto. Mikoto gave an exasperated sigh and started over as she brushed Sayuri's long red hair.

"Sayuri, your parents' along with all the fallen ninja's funeral is today. Due to the engagement contract, you are going to live in the Uchiha Compound as an Uchiha. You're going to get your own room and you can bring a few things you want from here. Of course, you can visit here every so often if you want," Mikoto said.

"Thank you," Sayuri said blankly as she got up and walked away.

Sayuri knew some basic fuuinjutsu. She took a rather large scroll next to the bookcase and carried it around the house, sealing things into it. She sealed all the scrolls in the house, including the hidden ones, into it. A few mementos she took were a few of her father's kunai, a blanket her mother had stitched, and her mother's kimono, the one without the Namikaze crest on it, one with intricate stitching and lively colors.

Itachi and Kakashi had been put to work cleaning the blood and glass off the floor that Sayuri had tracked in. They were putting the dirty cloths in the trash when Sayuri came to the front door. Itachi looked at Sayuri and didn't know what to do for once. Right as he was about to say something, Kakashi picked up the girl and hugged her tightly, something that seemed so unnatural for the stoic silver-haired teen.

"It's okay, Sayuri," Kakashi said.

When that didn't elicit a response from the girl, Kakashi let her down and returned to his normal stoic state. Itachi had a feeling her apathy wasn't stemming from just the loss of her parents.

"Namikaze-san, where is your brother?" Itachi asked.

"He's not dead," Sayuri said, knowing what his next question probably was. Itachi remained silent after that, realizing she probably wanted space. He at least knew why she was being so lifeless: she didn't have her brother here.

_Itachi…I hope you never find out that everyone's death from October 10__th__ is my fault. If I hadn't led the stranger to where Naruto was being born or if I had warned Kaa-san to deliver in the hospital instead, then none of this would've happened. Please, just keep thinking that my silence is due to my brother's absence._

The group, Mikoto, Itachi, Kakashi, and Sayuri, clad in black departed for the funeral. The skies darkened and rain poured down as Konoha stood in rows in black with flowers in their hands to lay down for their fallen Hokage and other dead friends and family. Everyone held a flower and one by one everyone put down a flower. Sayuri had picked a flower from a garden her mother had been keeping (which by that means that the plants were all dying) and laid it down when it was her turn.

Once she'd put down the flower, she walked away with her scroll in her hands. Itachi noticed she was leaving so soon and walked with her to the Uchiha Compound.

Itachi was never really good at starting conversations. However, Sayuri was just like him; the silence is a soothing thing. Even though so many people said that silence is a silent killer of shinobi, much like everything, it was good in small amounts. And for these two, it was good in larger amounts as a way of thinking around problems.

* * *

Three years passed. Itachi and Sayuri were nine and had achieved three tomoe Sharingan. Sasuke was a smiling four-year-old.

Sasuke was a bundle of energy and lifted the spirits of everyone he was around. Sayuri awoke to Sasuke whining for her to get up. She sat up and gave him an amused look. Sasuke grinned; he'd achieved his goal of waking up Sayuri.

"Sasuke, how did you manage to get into my room?" Sayuri asked. She knew he wasn't tall enough to reach the indent of the sliding door and didn't have enough strength (or patience) to drag something to stand on to reach.

Sasuke's face was priceless; he paled as he thought of a lie to cover up what he did, or more accurately, who helped him.

"I…I used my shinobi powers!" Sasuke said. Sayuri laughed a little and picked him up as she walked out of her room. Sasuke loved her laugh; it was like bells. He smiled and tugged at her hair, always fascinated by its color. He knew that almost Uchiha had black hair, or grey hair, and dark eyes. But she seemed to be a complete anomaly with her grey eyes and bright red hair. Sasuke liked that about her.

Sayuri put Sasuke down at the low table and helped Mikoto made breakfast for the rest of the head Uchiha family. Sayuri was cutting up wakame seaweed and cubes of tofu when Itachi walked in, much to Sasuke's delight. As Sayuri was dissolving miso with a strainer into the soup, Sasuke began to regale Itachi with the morning's events.

"So then after you opened the door into Nee-chan's room—" Sasuke started.

"So it was Itachi that helped you," Sayuri glanced at Sasuke and then Itachi, who kept a smooth poker face, a perfect picture of innocence.

"Go on, Sasuke," Itachi said, the corners of his mouth quirking up in amusement at Sayuri's glare. Sayuri placed the morning newspaper at Fugaku's end of the table and calmly, too calmly, placed bowls of miso soup in front of the two Uchiha boys. Mikoto finished grilling fish and warming up rice and placed that on the table as well. Sayuri walked out of the kitchen to get dressed; Sasuke had woken her up and she didn't want to change out of her pajamas in front of him. As she was slipping into a standard black Uchiha shirt, she smirked.

"Nii-san! Your face is all red!" Sasuke shrieked. Sayuri changed out of her pajama pants into ordinary grey pants. She tied her hitai-ate on her forehead after she quickly ran a comb through her hair.

Sayuri took a seat on the other side of Sasuke and watched with feigned puzzlement as Itachi was sticking his head under the tap and allowing cold water to rush into his mouth. Sweat poured down his face. Finally, he stopped and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"What did you do?" Itachi asked, his voice edged with irritation.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Sayuri said as she took a bite of rice and then grilled fish.

Itachi turned and looked at the counter. He found what he was looking for: a bottle of extra spicy pepper. He grabbed it and held it out in front of Sayuri.

"You put this in my soup, didn't you?" Itachi asked.

"Maybe," Sayuri said as she finished her rice and half of the grilled fish. Itachi gave her another irritated look before putting it back and giving a small smile. He went back to his seat next to Sasuke and finished the other half of fish and his share of rice.

"Sayuri, could you go to the market and get me some things?" Mikoto asked as she walked up to her and handed her a list and money. "Take Sasuke too."

"Sure, Kaa-san," Sayuri said. She gasped and looked down. Flustered, she folded the paper quickly and shoved it in her pocket.

"It's okay, Sayuri. You're my daughter, technically," Mikoto smiled. Sayuri nodded as she got up and pulled Sasuke up as well.

Sasuke pulled on his shoes as Sayuri tapped hers to make sure they were fitting correctly. Sayuri turned her back and bent her knees and gestured with her hands for Sasuke to jump on her back.

Sasuke beamed and jumped on her back. Sayuri pretended to topple over, and elicited the reaction she wanted: Sasuke gasping and holding on tighter to her back. She laughed and readjusted his weight on her back and set out to the market.

Sasuke was always fascinated with the masses buzzing about. He smiled at practically everything and was thankful that Sayuri had allowed a piggyback ride, granting him a great view of all the heads milling about. It made him taller than other children in the crowds and he felt smug.

As the path veered into a less busy alley, Sasuke saw a boy, thin and tiny, with blonde hair looking at a shop that sold small gifts. Sayuri stared with a distant look for a moment before walking over to the boy and pretended to look at other items.

"Hey, demon," the shopkeeper stormed over to the boy, who looked startled and confused as a hate-filled stare was fixed on him.

"Me?" the boy asked. Sasuke poked Sayuri's shoulder and pointed to the happening, sensing something bad was going to happen.

"Yeah you, you filthy piece of—" the shopkeeper started.

"There are children here," Sayuri said sharply. The man paled.

"The Yondaime's daughter…please forgive me," the man said, clearly frightened of what kind of wrath Sayuri could inflict.

"Yondaime's daughter?" Sasuke and the blonde asked at the same time.

"Nee-chan, I thought you were Tou-san and Kaa-san's daughter," Sasuke said, confused.

"That's so cool! Ne, ne, do you know all kinds of cool jutsu? Can you teach me? Can you show me? What was the Yondaime like when he defeated the Kyuubi? He was cool wasn't he?" the blonde fired off questions. Sayuri took a step to forward and picked up the thing Naruto was looking at.

"What's your name?" Sayuri asked, her eyes softening at the boy.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto dattebayo!" Naruto chirped. _She's sooo nice! And that hair is so cool!_

"Do you want this?" Sayuri asked, turning the little sushi eraser in her hand. Naruto nodded.  
"Nee-chan, I want something too!" Sasuke whined, glaring at the boy for taking his Nee-chan. Sayuri let him down and Sasuke picked a similar eraser and held it out. Sayuri patted Sasuke's head and gestured for the two boys to come to the paying counter with her. Sasuke gave Naruto a smug look and held onto her hand as if he owned a cool toy and Naruto didn't.

"That's 20 ryo," the shopkeeper said. ($1.66 or 83¢/per.) Sayuri handed over exactly 20 ryo and thanked the shopkeeper as she walked out with the two boys following. Sasuke and Naruto quickly got into a fight over who she liked more. Sayuri turned around and gave them an exasperated sigh.

"You two are making a scene," Sayuri scolded.

"He started it! You like me more because I'm your brother, right?" Sasuke scowled at Naruto, who scowled back.

"No, he started it! You like me more because you bought my eraser first!" Naruto argued, sticking his tongue out at Sasuke, who growled and attempted to punch him before Sayuri picked him up and threw him on her back.

"I'm sorry, we have errands," Sayuri said as she handed Naruto's eraser to him and began to walk away. Naruto turned and smiled to himself. _I found someone who doesn't think I'm bad! I bet if I bug her enough she'll teach me a cool jutsu!_

Once the two Uchiha got to the market, Sayuri pulled out the list and quickly found everything she needed. In the crook of her arm was a basket with things Mikoto wanted and the other hand supported Sasuke's weight even as he clung tightly to her back. Sayuri readjusted his weight and let go as she put the items on the counter for the cashier to ring up.

"277.20 ryo," the cashier said. ($23.) Sayuri handed over 300 ryo and once all the items were in a bag, Sayuri put the change into the bag and thanked the cashier as she walked out.

Sayuri readjusted Sasuke on her back and decided to make today a bit more interesting for Sasuke. Sayuri jumped on a rooftop and to Sasuke, soared across the skies of Konoha. Sasuke grinned and was ecstatic to see his village in a new perspective. He thought being a little taller was good, but seeing everything and everyone as specks moving about made everything seem greater.

Sayuri eventually jumped back down onto the ground and walked through the gates of the Uchiha compound. Sasuke raced to his home, leaving Sayuri to catch up with her heavy bag of groceries. About thirty seconds behind, Sayuri came through the door and narrowly dodged Sasuke trying to tackle her. Sasuke pouted as his attack failed and simply followed Sayuri to the kitchen to put away the groceries. Mikoto came from another part of the house and put away the rest of the groceries.

Sasuke walked away into another part of the house and Sayuri went to her room and began to sketch on a sheet of paper.

"Sayuri."

Sayuri looked up and saw Itachi.

"Itachi," Sayuri said slowly, surprised Itachi had referred to her by her first name, but they were 'family' after all.

"Sasuke is asking why you were referred to as the 'Yondaime's daughter'. Would you care to explain?" Itachi said as he took a seat on Sayuri's bed and Sasuke walked in as well and sat on Itachi's lap.

Sayuri put down her pencil and exhaled deeply. "Sasuke, your parents took me in after my parents died. My real father was the Yondaime Hokage."

"But…how come Kaa-san said you were her daughter? Even if you were taken in, you wouldn't refer to her as Kaa-san, you'd say Uchiha-san cause you're super polite to like, everyone," Sasuke frowned.

"Itachi, should I say it?" Sayuri asked. Itachi looked at Sasuke and sighed as he nodded.

"Sasuke, don't go telling everyone this, okay? Let's start from the top: have you ever heard of an arranged marriage?" Sayuri asked.

"No," Sasuke said bluntly.

"An arranged marriage is marriage where instead of two people choosing each other to marry, their parents choose who their son or daughter marries," Itachi supplied.

"My father and your father agreed that Itachi and I should be married in the future. Because of the contract, I was taken in by your parents," Sayuri finished.

Sasuke looked shocked as he looked at Sayuri and then to Itachi.

"So your mother said it was okay for me to refer to her as 'Kaa-san' because eventually, I'm going to live in the Uchiha clan," Sayuri said.

"That's weird," Sasuke said. "Like, what do you mean by 'future'?"

"The contract stated that we were going to get married when we're seventeen. That's roughly eight years away," Sayuri said. "Do you have any more questions?"

"So eventually you're going to be Itachi's wife and that means you're going to be my real Nee-chan?" Sasuke asked. Sayuri nodded.

"Do you like Nee-chan, Nii-san?" Sasuke turned to Itachi. Itachi was at a loss for words. He poked Sasuke's forehead and the four-year-old scowled and walked away in a huff of annoyance. Itachi and Sayuri's eyes made contact for a moment before they looked away, their heartbeats strangely roaring in their ears.  
"Itachi, let's go to the lake. I have to tell you something," Sayuri said suddenly. Itachi's eyes widened for a moment before he nodded and followed her to the lake.

The two sat in silence looking out at the calm water before Sayuri started.

"Itachi, promise me you'll keep this a secret," Sayuri sent Itachi a worried glance.

"Sure. What is it?" Itachi asked, slightly nervous.

"I have the Sharingan," Sayuri whispered.

"You do? Show me," a voice behind them said. Sayuri turned around and saw Fugaku standing there suddenly. Her mouth felt dry before she composed herself and turned around and stood. She closed her eyes for a moment and opened them, revealing three tomoe that spun over a red background.

"How do you have this?" Fugaku demanded. Sayuri looked at her feet and didn't answer.

"Tell me," Fugaku ordered. Sayuri didn't dare cross the Uchiha head.

"Minato allowed Orochimaru to perform experiments on me when I was still a toddler," Sayuri said. "That's all I know."

"I see. I want you to train with me tomorrow at dawn," Fugaku said. Sayuri nodded and sat back down on the edge of the water next to Itachi. Itachi had a shocked look on his face.

"Is that true?" Itachi asked. Sayuri nodded. Itachi bit his lip in anger. _I'm going to kill Orochimaru. No one hurts Sayuri. _

"It's okay though. I don't remember any of it so its like nothing happened, except for these eyes," Sayuri sighed. Itachi didn't respond; his mind was too angry to think properly.


	4. Change

Summary: On October 10th, Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina died, leaving behind two children. Sixteen years later, when Minato is revived, he's in for quite a shock. For starters, one of his children is an Akatsuki member and the other is a happy-go-lucky idiot. Note: Yondaime bashing and OC Warning.

* * *

_Snap._

Enough of this! Enough of needless honorifics! Enough of hiding behind this façade of being a simple girl! Almost all the girls of Konoha were sweet, kind, polite, but no one really ever stopped to try to help them. They either broke and turned into women cloaked in the red lights in dark corners of Konoha or they lived boring lives.

Enough of this game!

Sayuri let out a scream of frustration in front of the lake. Dirt and scrapes and bruises marred her face from that morning's training with Fugaku and she stood angrily and walked out of the Uchiha Compound to take a walk. A long walk.

People smiled at her and some thanked her father for saving the village. Yeah right, he only did that to save a kid he actually liked! Then he had to drag the only good person down with him, Kushina. That stranger from six years ago was right. Minato was a bastard that deserved his death!

Lightning and heavy rain poured down the streets. No one walked down the streets when slipping or being electrocuted was a hazard. Sayuri's grey eyes flashed with pent up rage and she kept walking in the rain, not caring she'd catch a cold or something.

It seemed another ninja had a similar idea to walk in the rain. Sayuri glared at the silver-haired ninja, who decided to follow her as if for companionship. In the past Sayuri would've made nice conversation, petty small talk.

Sayuri kept walking as if she didn't see him or didn't sense his obvious chakra or hear his splashing footsteps in the rain. Her grey eyes narrowed as she saw footsteps on the area that was covered and meant to stay dry in front of her old home's front door. She jumped up to the second floor's door, not wanting to alert whoever was in the house of her presence just yet.

She slipped into the house and saw; still, the Copy Ninja was following her. She gave him a harsh sideways look, which he seemed completely unfazed by.

Lightning flashed for an instant, illuminating the living room. Sayuri's eyes widened as she saw a blonde head in front of paint that was smeared on _everything._

Sayuri's eyes changed to spin with three tomoe and glowed a dangerous red. She grabbed the child by the front of his shirt, eliciting a scream from the boy. Kakashi seemed to disapprove but didn't intervene. Sayuri flicked on the lights and took a quick glance at everything. Yep, everything was smeared with paint: the walls, floors, table, windows…

"Let me down!" the child yelled, trying to kick Sayuri. Sayuri slapped him hard, her eyes unfeeling.

"How did you get in here?" Sayuri asked. "This was my old home and—"

"Actually, this is private property of Konoha that you haven't inherited _yet,_" Kakashi corrected.

"Did I ask you? I didn't ask you. I was asking this vandal. I don't want to hear another useless word from you, _Kakashi_," Sayuri said.

"I'm not a vandal! I'm a ninja!" the child argued.

"You're not a ninja. You haven't killed and felt the fear of being killed or seen your comrades die in their own pool of blood. You haven't seen the cold, dead eyes of a man who hated you bring the only person who spared you a kindness down into his death. You can't use chakra and you couldn't even sense me coming; I didn't even conceal my chakra," Sayuri said.

"What? Who died? What're you talking about?" the blonde asked.

"I'd also like to know who the hell you are, breaking into my old home and ruining it. You should be ashamed to do this to the _Yondaime Hokage's _house. Yeah, he lived here along with his wife and daughter and invited over his three students until two of them died, leaving their teammate to stand all alone," Sayuri said, shaking with anger.

"Sayuri, don't," Kakashi warned. "Or I'll—"

"Or you'll what? Use your single Sharingan on me? Against my two Sharingan you have little chance. This is between me and this fake ninja," Sayuri warned. Kakashi closed the door and leaned against a clean part of the wall, trying to mull over what she'd just said. _Sharingan? She has the Sharingan? How?_

"Who are you? Why are you here? How did you get in?" Sayuri asked.

"I remember you…you're the one with the little brother and bought me an eraser. Don't you remember me?" the child asked hopefully. Another crack of lightning illuminated his blue eyes, his pleading and sad blue eyes. The same eyes Minato had. The eyes of a bastard.

"I remember that day I wasted money on an orphan because I was too nice. Do you remember that boy? He's already able to use chakra and perform his signature clan jutsu. He's at the top of his Academy class and on a path to surpass his older brother and sister," Sayuri said. "Answer my questions."

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I wanted to pull a prank so I got in through an unlocked window with the lilies growing like crazy. Is the guy you're talking about Sasuke? He's like, my best friend. I might be dead last—"

Sayuri had had enough of his babbling. She closed her eyes and threw the six-year-old at Kakashi, who had no choice but to catch him. Naruto stuck to Kakashi, afraid of the girl. She stood for a moment, looking around in wistfulness.

"Kakashi, you and this demon brat are to clean all this up. Or just watch him to make sure he cleans all this up," Sayuri said. Kakashi looked shocked at her cruelty. Sayuri looked at the floor almost in guilt for saying it, but the look vanished back into a glare fixed on the blonde.

"Hey! I'm not a demon! Everyone always says I am but I'm just Uzumaki Naruto! I thought you'd believe me and tell me why everyone says that but you're just like all of them! One day I'm going to prove all of you wrong and become Hokage!" Naruto announced. Sayuri smirked and laughed. Her laugh sounded harsh and fake.

"My father was a strong Hokage, doing whatever he could to make the village strong. Even if that meant using people he was supposed to care about and exploiting bloodlines and sacrificing childhoods and taking his wife down with him in his death. You're not a ninja so you can't begin to imagine my horror as I saw my parents be impaled by the Kyuubi's claw to save a mere child. Can you imagine them lying in their own pools of blood, giving their last words, unable to be there for the people they cared about? Once you can," Sayuri said, grabbing his collar and making him stare into her cold Sharingan eyes, "Come to me with all your power and prove to me that you're worthy of that worthless Hokage title."

"Bring it on!" Naruto challenged.

"Stop!" Kakashi ordered but no one heard him. Naruto ran to her with a bucket of paint in his hand and tried to throw it on her, but she moved too quickly to be behind him and dumped the paint over his head. He stood, dumbfounded for a moment before finding himself holding in tears. He'd experienced worse treatment at the hands of other villagers, but for some reason, he cried as she stood with a stony face. He thought he saw guilt in her eyes but it changed back to a glare.

_Slap_.

Sayuri's head whipped to the side, her face stinging in pain. For a moment it was silent before Kakashi said something.

"Sayuri, that was uncalled for. Your threats, your challenge, the paint. When I say stop, I expect you to stop. You, Minato-sensei's daughter, should've known better than anyone that an order is final. You, a mere Chuunin, should not, and will not, show any more defiance to a higher-ranking shinobi, especially one right under the Hokage. What's gotten into you?" Kakashi asked lowly. Sayuri gave him an apathetic look, one that mirrored his usual look of apathy. She gave a look that didn't show any remorse to Naruto and opened the door, lightning flashing on her face.

Sayuri walked out in the rain, her eyes staring out at nothing, her heart feeling empty. _What have I done? Naruto…forgive me. I meant nothing I said but I suppose now I'll have to make good on my promise now and I hope one day you'll kill me so I can repent for all my sins. Heh, maybe that's too serious. But still, become a good ninja, someone not like me._

* * *

Sayuri and Itachi are thirteen. At the secret Uchiha meetings, people felt confident they had the Yondaime's daughter in their ranks to help with the coup. In the back where they sat, Itachi, Shisui, and Sayuri gave worried glances. They knew the coup would cause huge problems, if a civil war wasn't enough.

Fugaku said that they would have the coup be the following year to make sure the Konoha ANBU weren't on them. Itachi knew better; the Konoha ANBU were already watching them, keeping nearly all available eyes on them. Itachi didn't dare reveal that kind of information now that he had a time frame.

At midnight, the meeting was dispersed and the Uchiha went to their respective homes. Itachi laid in bed, terrified that Fugaku might get overconfident and decide to push the coup closer in time. He heard hushed talking from another part of the house and turned over, really not wanting to get more anxious.

Sayuri knelt in front of Fugaku, bags under her eyes from stress and constant training. She used to make sure she slept enough but now she could care less about something like that. Wars weren't won with people sleeping for eight hours; they were won with adrenaline and fear keeping them awake.

"Sayuri, Itachi is the pipe that connects the ANBU and Council to the Uchiha. He works in secret but your purpose is to make sure none of the civilians or shinobi know of our plans and kill any who do know of our plans. If you find anyone with too much information, you are to cover your tracks and dispose of them. Do you understand?" Fugaku asked.

Sayuri nodded. She pushed herself up with her knees and walked away briskly. In near pitch-black darkness, she wound through the house and slipped into her room, the door sliding smoothly closed. She flicked on a light and did the one thing that reminded her of calmer times: study fuuinjutsu.

When it came to studying fuuinjutsu, it was important to practice the kanji within the seal until it was neat and consistent. Many of the kanji characters consisted of over twenty strokes and the correct stroke order had to be followed, otherwise the seal could, at the mildest, not work, or at the worst scenario, kill the jutsu caster.

Sayuri had a small candle that would illuminate her scroll and regular paper she practiced on. She had good chakra control but she didn't want to take a risk of using chakra-sensitive paper and then blowing up something. After all, the further she continued studying, the seals got more dangerous and required more and more chakra.

At around 2am, Sayuri stopped for a moment. She glanced at her wall of scrolls and for once, she saw a scroll that looked different. She didn't know why she hadn't realized or seen it before, but that didn't matter now. She picked it up and read the few words that described the contents. _Uzumaki Swordsmanship_.

Sayuri unfurled it curiously and saw that in addition to fuuinjutsu, the Uzumaki had a special style of fighting with swords. Sayuri supposed that since the Uzumaki had no real shinobi force but had fuuinjutsu, something that took up lot of chakra, they needed another way to protect themselves without using up any, or little chakra. It was similar to taijutsu in the sense that it served as another way of fighting just as ninjutsu and genjutsu but didn't need chakra.

A simple storage seal was written in the scroll and next to it, it said that there was a sword sealed in it. Sayuri cocked her head and applied a bit of chakra. In a silent puff of smoke, a sword materialized in her hands. It had a beautifully decorated scabbard and the sword had a temper pattern, the wavy pattern on the sword that was often a dull grey, of juka-choji, a rare and difficult to achieve pattern that was supposed to represent overlapping petals.

It glinted in the candlelight and Sayuri gave a soft smile. She put it back into the scroll and kept reading.

The Uzumaki swords had a bit less weight compared to a kunai despite the obvious amount of work that must've gone into making such a sword. As a result of the lightweight aspect, it made the style harder to practice. This was because the user had to make sure the sword hit its target and follow the stroke all the way through. An inexperienced user with the lightweight sword might also believe the sword had gotten its target when it hadn't due to, for example, in a windy and rainy storm where there is little light. Every stroke matters and if a stroke is wasted because the user had misjudged the striking radius or the amount of force behind the stroke, it could mean the difference between life and death.

Sayuri smiled. The Uzumaki seemed to have been quite the comedians; fuuinjutsu required many strokes and as the scroll said, "…every stroke matters and if a stroke is wasted…it could mean the difference between life and death." The Uzumaki made terrible puns regarding strokes and then relating the fact that if a stroke is missed or written out of order for fuuinjutsu or swords, it could mean life or death. Sayuri was a sap for those kinds of jokes; she stifled a laugh. _Gah! Don't laugh! These jokes are terrible!_

However, they were prepared and went the extra mile in having diagrams. Sayuri activated her Sharingan and copied them instantly. Before she could continue, a yell into the house reached her ears. She put down the scroll and stood. A few steps and she was out of her room and in the hallway. Itachi and Sayuri walked quickly to the front door, where the rain and lightning were louder due to an open door. Sayuri saw that it was a small child standing there. Another crack of lightning and it revealed yellow spiky hair with paint dripping out of it.

"Sasuke!" the child cried out again. Sayuri grabbed the child and stood with him and Itachi outside. Itachi realized who it was and looked at Sayuri with surprise.

"Why're you here?" Sayuri asked.

"I'm not telling you. I came for Sasuke," Naruto frowned at her.

"I asked, _why are you here?_" Sayuri repeated herself, lowering her voice dangerously. Itachi placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to tell her to calm down, but she shook his hand off and, surprising Naruto, knelt to Naruto's eye level.

"Forgive me, Naruto. You can tell me anything," Sayuri said, her eyes kind. Naruto blinked. _She's...being honest. Is this what she's been hiding? Then why did she lash out at me earlier? _

"I got kicked out of my apartment because I tracked paint you threw on me on the stairs and hallways," Naruto said. He looked into Sayuri's eyes and saw they were spinning once more. Sayuri felt her eyes hurt again from using the Sharingan once more today. Naruto collapsed on the ground; genjutsu. Itachi looked at her and knelt to her level, seeing how she was in pain and holding her eyes.

"Sayuri, are you okay?" Itachi asked.

"Take Naruto to the Hokage. He'll know what to do. We can't take him in after all," Sayuri said, getting to her feet and walking into the house. Itachi looked wistfully at Sayuri's back for a moment before he picked the unconscious child up and made his way to the Hokage tower.

* * *

Sayuri stood in the bathroom, splashing cold water over her eyes. She tugged a bit at her chakra and her eyes turned back to their usual grey. She looked at herself in the mirror and once again, she saw a murderer. She saw a failure. She saw a tired girl running. She knew that one day she'd trip and her past mistakes would come back and kill her.

"Nee-chan."

But for now she could allow a smile and pretend she had done nothing wrong and she could die a simple death, a death fitting an average and forgettable girl. She glared at her reflection. _I don't want to be forgettable. I don't want to be like Kaa-san, a woman who died with a man who is remembered throughout the world, forgotten even to the village she saved. _

"Nee-chan!"

Sayuri closed her eyes and turned to open the door, revealing Sasuke. He seemed to have been spooked by something and had streaks of dried tears on his face. Sasuke clenched his hands and lowered his head to cover up more tears.

"What's wrong, Sasuke?" Sayuri asked. Sasuke paused before answering, as if to make sure his voice wouldn't come out all shaky. He didn't want to let his older sister, a person who he liked perhaps even more than Itachi (the red hair was still really cool), know he'd cried. He was the best Academy student, at the top of his class, so he can't cry.

"I had a nightmare. It was about you and Nii-san killing a lot of people," Sasuke said, his voice barely shaking.

"Sasuke, Itachi and I haven't killed anyone," Sayuri said. _And if I play my cards right, there will be no 'yet'._

"I know. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Where is Nii-san?" Sasuke asked.

"He's just taking care of your friend. Naruto came by earlier and Itachi had to help him with his apartment. He's fine, both of them. Naruto's your friend, right?" Sayuri took Sasuke's hand and pulled him along to get back to his bed. It was awfully early and Sayuri could see the tired glaze in the young Uchiha's eyes. Sayuri tucked the young boy into his bed and sat by him until he fell back asleep, this time with no trace of anxiety.

The time was roughly 3am. Sayuri stifled a yawn. She knew she'd have to get up at 6am and three hours of sleep was her minimum if she didn't want to be nodding off the next day. Once Itachi came back a few minutes later, she made her way to her room, blew out the candle, and fell asleep the moment she hit the bed, not bothering to change out of her wet clothes.

A ray of sunlight hit her eyes at 6am. She turned over with an irritated groan and sat up. A strong shiver went down her spine and she hugged herself to keep warm for even a moment. She rubbed her eyes and made her way to the shower.

With her mind and body awake and warm, she dried herself off with a towel and hurried back to her room. After getting dressed, she quickly had breakfast before getting out of the house.

Today was a C-Rank mission. She didn't want to be far from the village for too long even though she could handle a B-Rank mission. But with the way things were progressing with Fugaku and his impatient ways, Sayuri had a feeling that the coup might be hastened.

She shook her head. Itachi was there and when he put his mind to it, he could be a decent persuader. Sayuri had no choice but to put her faith in Itachi. She smiled a little, thinking of Itachi as she walked up the steps to the Hokage tower to be briefed on her mission.

She opened the door and saw Hiruzen and a Hyuuga around her age there as well. Hiruzen wasted no time in beginning his briefing.

"As you two know, it is a C-Rank mission to escort Bishamon-dono to her town that is half a day's journey away. You will each receive 3,000 ryo for this mission. Return in three days should you encounter any danger," Hiruzen said. (About $250.)

Sayuri nodded. The Hyuuga followed suit and out of the corner of Sayuri's eye, she saw he looked at her with fear and hostility. Sayuri didn't think that one could convey those seemingly two opposite emotions on one face, but there's a first for everything. Sayuri decided to try to ease his nerves by giving a smile, but that only served to make him more on edge. Sayuri frowned. _What's wrong with him? He looks both scared of me and hates me. Did I do something wrong to him that made him scared of me? But I don't know this guy, so it's got to be something else. I can only think of two things: Naruto and the Uchiha. No one but very few know that Naruto is my brother and an ordinary Hyuuga like him, especially one who is my age, wouldn't know, and those who do know won't gossip about it. And…it's known the Uchiha and Hyuuga don't like each other. Did Itachi or Fugaku do something? I can't see Mikoto, Sasuke, or Shisui doing anything wrong. I'm not going to find out by guessing and I've got at least a day to find out._

The woman they were escorting had long pale blonde hair, lilac eyes, and a long black trench coat over a white shirt with a purple tie and black boots that came up mid-calf over black pants. Sayuri cocked her head; this was a very, very strange outfit. She couldn't even fathom of how it was made or why she'd wear something like that. It was something outlandish and clearly something made without any template or any knowledge of any other clothing. Perhaps this woman made it herself before she'd ever seen clothes before? It was strange, to say the least.

"Let's go," the woman said curtly after she looked analytically at the two shinobi. Sayuri sweatdropped; this woman seemed a leader and was going to be stubborn to move out of the way should danger appear.

The three departed from the village gates without a hitch.

However…

This woman was crazy!

She kept asking ridiculous questions and was also extremely picky over what foods she was offered and demanded a break every hour or so. From what Hiruzen said, the journey was to take half a day but at the rate they were going at, it would take a full day to get to where this woman wanted to go.

"What's your name anyway, both of you?" Bishamon asked.

"Now it's Uchiha Sayuri," Sayuri said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Bishamon narrowed her purple eyes. She was either smart or needlessly paranoid.

"I was taken in by the Uchiha clan," Sayuri answered honestly. It wasn't like she'd meet this lady again anyway so she didn't see why she would have to be untruthful about it.

"I'm Hyuuga Hideki," the Hyuuga said, looking annoyed he had to say his name in front of Sayuri as if she now could cross his name off her kill list.

"How did you get your hair so red? And why are your eyes so dull in comparison? Why am I in the care of mere brats anyway? You two are like, what, twelve, thirteen?" Bishamon griped.

"If we were Genin, we wouldn't have taken this mission," Hideki snapped. "Both of us are Chuunin, ninjas stronger than those children who haven't even slit throats yet. To become Chuunin, we must fight and kill our opponents to be recognized as such. I became Chuunin last year," Hideki corrected, clearly not caring to be respectful the client. Bishamon didn't look fazed in the slightest.

"So when did Tomato here get Chuunin or whatever?" Bishamon asked, twirling a bit of hair around her finger lazily.

"Five years ago," Sayuri said, choosing to ignore the insult. Bishamon stopped and turned slowly around to look at her with a shocked expression. Sayuri couldn't tell if it was fake or not.

"You were like, what, seven? What kind of childhood is that?!" Bishamon asked, clearly horrified these children would be killing others for the sake of their village so early. Sayuri and Hideki shared a glance, remembering the War.

"What?" Bishamon demanded.

"Sorry to ruin the trip to your town, but do you remember the Third Shinobi World War?" Sayuri asked, her eyes closed and turned upwards as she gave a sheepish smile.

"What about it? I never fought but I heard your village won or something," Bishamon waved her hand dismissively.

"Well, Konoha would've lost if it hadn't sent all the available people. Of course, the Yellow Flash helped but he could only be on one battlefield at a time. So, Konoha was forced to send children," Hideki supplied. Bishamon looked at them with an almost scandalized look, as if not believing them. Sayuri nodded at Bishamon's clear rejection of such information.

Bishamon turned back around and kept walking. She proceeded to demand foods that neither Chuunin could afford, as if they brought a few million ryo on a mission like this.

When night fell, Sayuri was honestly relieved. This meant that for a period of time the woman would be sleeping and not criticizing or bragging about something insignificant. Or looking shocked.

Sayuri took the first watch. She leaned against a tree and let one leg dangle off the branch as she stared at the moon. Tonight was a full moon and it glowed bright enough to read of one really tried.

When her shift was over, she saw that Hideki had finally succumbed to sleep and was mumbling about something in his sleep. Sayuri summoned a bit of chakra to her ear and curiously eavesdropped. She knew that most Hyuuga seemed to have a rod shoved up their spine and it was refreshing to see a Hyuuga not so strict.

"…Uchiha…lies…clan…red…" Hideki was muttering a string of words. Sayuri sighed. He was just strange. He didn't seem to cause any harm.

"Coup," Hideki whispered sharply. Sayuri froze. _He knows? Is that why he's been acting like this? How many Hyuuga know? Who else knows? Who let it slip? Why would anyone in the Uchiha let it slip? Neither Itachi nor Shisui would let it slip and I haven't talked to any Hyuuga practically in my whole life. _

Sayuri bit her lip. Fugaku's words came back to her. She looked at Hideki for a moment before it was too much to bear and looked at the shining moon. It was like a cruel reminder that she was still in this world and she had to carry out her duties as a shinobi of Konoha.

Sayuri jumped down to the ground. She awoke Hideki with a slight flare of chakra; if she poked him he might scream or attack. He opened his eyes and gave her another hard look. She simply said it was his shift for watching for enemies. He pulled himself up and went up the tree as Sayuri curled up on her thin blanket she'd brought.

When dawn came, the three continued in silence without stopping or hearing any complaints from Bishamon. Sayuri thought it was strange but perhaps the woman didn't want to talk to children who had their hands soaked in blood. It was shocking for civilians living outside of shinobi villages to see the mysterious ninja up close. It seemed as if shinobi were like fairy tales and then when Bishamon learned the ugly truth that Konoha—all villages actually—had to employ innocent looking children in a War started by old war hawks.

A few hours passed in somewhat peaceful silence until they reached the town. Bishamon gave them neither a nod nor thanks. Sayuri didn't really care. The woman was crazy or something and as she decided earlier, she wouldn't see the woman again, hopefully. Sayuri didn't really notice the fact Bishamon didn't thank them because another thing was on her mind, something much more grim and she was glad that Bishamon didn't know or ask; she'd probably faint.

It was the fact Sayuri would have to kill Hideki. And probably other Hyuuga who knew of the coup. She began to think of possible outcomes and when she came to the most likely one, she dropped to her knees and vomited in the bushes.

"H-hey!" Hideki said, turning away. "What's your problem?"

Sayuri's mind began to think of how to get information as she wiped her mouth and took a long drink of water from her canteen. She glanced at Hideki and promptly fainted.

* * *

Sayuri awoke to another night. The moon was still shining brightly and Sayuri had a dazed look on her face; her mouth opened a bit revealing white teeth and her grey eyes opened only slightly, giving her the look of tiredness. Her ears filled with her loud heartbeat. The leaves rustled but that wasn't enough to drown out the ringing of silence.

"Hey."

Sayuri's eyes turned blood red and spun with three tomoe as she bolted straight up and looked at the unsuspecting Hyuuga. Hideki slumped against a tree as Sayuri began to search his memories.

The plan worked perfectly. Sayuri hadn't intentionally meant to vomit, but it worked out anyway. She'd planned faint after that, leaving her with only Hideki. The nap she had was a good way to replenish chakra should her Sharingan take more chakra then she anticipated. Sayuri supposed that since she didn't have an Uchiha body and wasn't a full Uzumaki, the Sharingan she had couldn't be controlled so easily. Often she had to have complete silence and concentration to be able to pull off any techniques regarding the Sharingan, even copying jutsu.

However, very occasionally she could pull off something without it being silent and her concentration inconsistent. It was similar to archery. One has to focus on the target to let the arrow fly with confidence but even then the arrow might be off. It was the same with Sayuri; even with complete concentration she couldn't always use the Sharingan the way she wanted, or more often, needed. In battle, one can't get the silence they need for concentration and everything goes so fast that they'd either die or be severely injured if they're distracted.

_I've got to get this problem under control. If I don't, then this'll just render me a bigger target for Iwa, Kumo, or Kiri who might want a Sharingan._

Sayuri felt another jab of pain to her eyes and she hissed as she covered them with her hands. Hideki's memories played in her mind as she grabbed a canteen with water, made cold from the night air, and with cupped hands threw water into her eyes, relieving the pain a bit. She closed the canteen with a small squeak and put it back into her bag.

After a few mintues, it became clear who knew of the coup within the Hyuuga clan. It was only adult Branch members. Sayuri closed her eyes for a moment, wishing she wouldn't have to completely obliterate a huge portion of the Hyuuga. Sayuri wasn't too knowledgeable when it came to the Hyuuga clan, but she knew the Branch Members outnumbered the Main Family by a lot. That and the fact that only the first-born was usually chosen to be the new head of the clan. She'd heard rumors of a seal, but she wasn't too sure.

Sayuri gripped Hideki's arm and sent a small amount of chakra into his tenketsu as she tugged at her own chakra and deactivated her Sharingan. Hideki opened his eyes and veins became visible around his eyes. Sayuri held up her hands in nonaggression but that didn't stop Hideki from stepping into the Juuken form. He scowled and Sayuri stayed well away from him.

"What did you do to me?" Hideki demanded. "Why was I in a genjutsu? What are you trying to pull?"

"I didn't mean to! I was having a nightmare and when I woke up, I was scared and then you startled me and I acted on impulse," Sayuri explained, keeping any hint of lie away. For a moment she could honestly believe it. If she hadn't been taken in by the Uchiha. Sayuri thought about what would've happened if she hadn't been taken in. Maybe she would've been stuck with Kakashi? Or maybe she'd be like Naruto, on his own? Sayuri pushed those thoughts into the back of her head; she had to focus and make her lie believable.

Hideki grunted and the nerves around his eyes relaxed and disappeared. Another rustle of wind blew through his hair and he gave Sayuri a sideways look, his blue-tinted black hair waving a bit before he raised a hand to push it back. Sayuri saw a strange look in his eyes and instinctively took a step back as he smirked.

Sayuri let out a yelp as she was shoved against the rough bark of a tree and her eyes widened as Hideki's seemingly endless lavender/white eyes stared back. She felt the cold blade of a kunai against her neck and sharply inhaled.

"What?" Sayuri asked.

"You're not afraid?" Hideki asked, his voice barely audible. Sayuri didn't know how to respond; no one had forcibly shoved her against a tree, except for Minato or Obito, but Minato did that out of some kind of disobedience and Obito took a ninjutsu to his back and had to shove her out of the way in the War.

"Why should I be? Even with the kunai at my neck I get the feeling you're testing my reflexes or something. Right?" Sayuri asked.

She tried to push him away, only to find that he pressed her against the tree harder until she could feel the warmth from his body on her arms and skin. She frowned, not sure of what he was trying to do.

"Let's go with 'or something'," Hideki said, stepping back and putting away the kunai. Sayuri sighed, completely confused. What was he trying to do? Was he trying to convey some kind of message? Why did he even bring out a kunai?

* * *

Sayuri ran as fast as she could. Once she saw her goal, she ran even faster and tumbled through the door, her shoes flying off, about to slam her head onto a sharp corner before she curled her body and did a somersault. With momentum still pushing her, she turned on her heel and ran through the hallway and skidded to a stop by catching a doorknob. For a split second she thought about not turning the knob, but continued on and opened the door.

"Sayuri?" the Uchiha looked up, surprised and confused to see her panting as she'd run. He waited patiently for an explanation and before he could ask, she cut him off.

"We need to talk," Sayuri said, grabbing his hand. She pulled out a three-pronged kunai and effectively used up half of her chakra. When they finally reappeared less than a second later, Sayuri dropped to her knees and hands and panted, barely able to breathe as her body tried to adjust with half of her chakra suddenly gone.

Itachi knelt to look at her, concern in his mind, and pulled her up to stand. She grabbed on a nearby tree for support. An exhausted look was clear with glassy eyes and the pallor of her skin. She caught her breath after a few moments and took a deep breath.

"You are ANBU; you are the pipe connecting the Uchiha to the Council and ANBU. According to Fugaku, I am the one whose 'purpose is to make sure none of the civilians or shinobi know of our plans and kill any who do know of our plans. If I find anyone with too much information, I am to cover my tracks and dispose of them'. The Hyuuga Branch members, the adults, they know. On my mission I feared Fugaku would advance his plans. Did he?" Sayuri asked.

"Yeah. Two days ago, Shisui commited suicide. That's how dire this has gotten. Sayuri, I've been thinking. If I remove the Uchiha then the problem will be averted. I trust you have come to a similar conclusion," Itachi said. "Sayuri, I'll kill the Hyuuga; you should be here for Sasuke and Naruto. Please."

Sayuri shook her head mutely. "This…this is the path we must walk. I know you don't want to involve me but the moment I entered the clan and took the Uchiha name, I had no choice. The moment I was involved in the coup I had no choice. Shisui gave up his life and I can't lose you too," Sayuri's voice broke at the end but she willed that no tears would be shed. Despite her will, tears rolled down her cheeks. Itachi's eyes softened a bit.

"I suppose you'll be a bad influence around Sasuke and Naruto if you're going to cry. It's true we can't let Shisui's death be in vain, especially since he mentioned you in his suicide letter. I don't want to involve you in any of this, but considering how little time we have I think we have to work together. After all, that marriage contract binds us together, doesn't it?" Itachi gave a wry smile.

"What did he say?" Sayuri asked, wiping away her tears.

"He said he died a happy shinobi, knowing a girl with red hair as bright as his heart that was filled," Itachi said, having memorized what Shisui had written the moment he saw the note.

"What does that mean?" Sayuri asked, not wanting to think anymore.

"He liked you. Did you like him back?" Itachi asked, his question blunt all of a sudden. Sayuri's face looked shocked, as if she'd just been slapped.

"No," Sayuri said, her answer honest. Itachi nodded, a smile still on his face.

"I sense Sasuke's chakra a few Training Grounds away from here. This morning he wanted me to train with him the shuriken jutsu but truth be told, I was and am busy. Given the time frame, today is our last day as his kind siblings. I can't be there so can you?" Itachi asked.

Sayuri nodded. She felt more tears welling up, but she turned and jumped into the trees to where Sasuke was. She blinked away tears and put on a smile as she jumped down to where Sasuke was standing with shuriken in his hands and several cuts on his fingers, panting. Once Sasuke noticed her, he grinned. Sayuri patted his head and fixed his form and after another hour, Sasuke began to hit all the targets.

"Thanks!" Sasuke hugged her. "Can you teach me a jutsu?"

Sayuri smiled and nodded. _I don't have much time with him left. I hope this'll be a memory he'll cherish and he'll use this jutsu well._

"Alright, this is the Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Jutsu, or the Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Jutsu. Whatever you call it, it's a powerful jutsu. It requires a bit of chakra and practice. I didn't get it on my first try and to tell you a secret, neither did Itachi," Sayuri watched as a shocked expression wove onto his face.

"Watch," Sayuri said. She moved her hands slowly with each seal to show Sasuke. In his excitement, he memorized them on the spot. Once Sayuri molded enough chakra, she yelled out the jutsu name and a volley of small fireballs rushed out unpredictably. Sasuke watched in awe and promptly demanded she teach him.

Sasuke made the seals and yelled out the jutsu name just as she had and only a single tiny fireball came out and fizzled out after a few moments. Sasuke didn't pout; he had to make her proud. She came all the way to teach him after all.

Sayuri debated to leave a clone or not for a moment. She sighed and split her chakra once more, leaving a Shadow Clone behind. She slipped away as her clone began to help him out a little.

In the meantime, Sayuri went off to prepare for the Hyuuga Branch Massacre hoping to leave innocent children not involved behind.


	5. Hyuuga

Summary: On October 10th, Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina died, leaving behind two children. Sixteen years later, when Minato is revived, he's in for quite a shock. For starters, one of his children is an Akatsuki member and the other is a happy-go-lucky idiot. Note: Yondaime bashing and OC Warning.

* * *

_"Hokage-sama, Itachi and I will eliminate those who knew of the coup. Itachi will work on his clan while I kill the Hyuuga. With that being said, please don't tell Naruto of me. I'm sorry that I couldn't be there for him and I still can't, but this way he'll be safe from me. Please protect him."_

_Hiruzen looked at the girl, her long red hair tied back, an exact replica of Kushina. He took a long drag from his pipe._

_"Is there anything else?" he asked._

_"I know it's late, too late to tell you, but when I was a child Minato told me that when I was two he allowed Orochimaru to experiment on me. That's how I have the Sharingan. I also have my mother's kekkei genkai, chakra chains. In exchange for these two powers my body is weak and the Sharingan is difficult to control; it takes a lot of chakra. Lastly, when Itachi and I were five Fugaku and Minato signed an arranged marriage contract. This is everything about me. I know I should've told you sooner about my kekkei genkai but…" Sayuri bit her lip._

_"It's alright. Itachi came earlier saying the same things. I will protect Sasuke and Naruto. You and Itachi do not need to worry," Hiruzen said, his dark eyes hardening as he pushed away feelings of blame towards himself away._

_"Thank you, Hokage-sama," Sayuri bowed deeply and disappeared in a shunshin. Hiruzen closed his eyes and looked out at the village. In his mind, he blamed himself for letting this happen, for letting his finest shinobi throw away their lives for the sake of the village's peace, for the world's peace. Hiruzen took another long drag. He had to repay them, and repay them he would._

* * *

Seals lay around the compound.

A layer of genjutsu was already set.

Scrolls tightly were tightly secured.

Two lent swords, one much easier to use, was strapped on the side.

Sayuri let her eyes turn a blood red with three tomoe spinning.

First were the guards. They were the first layer of defense to getting into the compound, even with the genjutsu.

Sayuri took a deep breath and with both swords in both hands, she raced towards the two. In another second, their heads were heading towards the ground. Sayuri was already racing towards the houses before they hit the ground.

Clear images of the people who knew of the coup replayed over and over in her head. She knew she had a limited amount of time until the Main Family would be alerted. Despite this fear, she continued on, her swords going through soft flesh and her face being splattered with warm blood.

Each step was a step closer to every Branch Member. Their chakra was easy to see and differentiating between Main and Branch was easy as well due to the seal being a different color on their foreheads.

Another startled Branch woman was at the doorway and Sayuri advanced with speed, too fast for her to realize what was happening. The Branch woman fell to the floor, a pool of blood growing around her.

Sayuri was walking through a hallway, aware of the small children that peeked into the hallway to look at her, completely unaware of the sheer amount of bloodshed that were in the other rooms.

"Stop! You're killing everyone," a boy stood at the end of the hallway. Sayuri paid him no attention and entered another room. Two Branch members looked at her with confusion and even more so when her swords plunged into their hearts. Sayuri's face was covered with more blood when she advanced towards the last few rooms that the door that the boy was in front of led to.  
"I'm going to stop you," the boy stated, the veins around his eyes growing more and more prominent. He stepped into the Juuken stance and scowled. Sayuri summoned chakra to her feet and used the basic procedure Shisui had taught her for the Shunshin. She appeared behind the boy in an instant and a strong chop to the back of his head was enough to knock him out. He fell to his knees and said nothing more.

Sayuri walked past him and opened the door, revealing another hallway, shorter this time, with four doors. She turned her head to look into all of the rooms and all the rooms had at least one Branch Member. This was the last part.

Sayuri opened the door and stepped into the room. Neither Branch member awoke of her presence. Sayuri's hands shook slightly as she raised them and the swords clattered the ground the moment the two Branch members were dead, pools of blood staining their futon red. Sayuri gritted her teeth and picked up a sword, leaving the other there.

She gripped the hilt as tightly as she could and raced to the other two rooms and killed them as quickly as she could, not wanting to waste any more time with her hands disobeying. She opened the door to the last room and suddenly found herself pinned to the ground.

"Sayuri, is that what you wanted from me on our mission?" a familiar voice asked.

"Let go of me," Sayuri said, struggling. Hideki had his eyes closed to avoid her Sharingan eyes.

"I'll let you go if you deactivate your Sharingan and I can see your true eyes," Hideki said. Sayuri grudgingly complied and she saw Hideki's white eyes in the moonlight. She shut her eyes shut as she felt his lips on hers and as soon as it had happened, she was standing with Hideki kneeling.

"What did you do?" Sayuri asked angrily.

"I kissed you. Isn't that obvious?" Hideki asked quietly. "The Main members are waking up. I'm the last one so hurry up and kill me already. I know you're engaged to that Itachi anyway. I knew I wouldn't have a chance with the Yondaime Hokage's daughter anyway. I understand now, what you did. You took a look at my memories to find out who knew of the coup. And I think, now, what you're doing is preventing the coup. Please, let my final words be 'I love you'," Hideki said, his head touching the ground as he bowed and knelt.

Sayuri stood in shock for a moment before letting her sword swing.

All those days training with Fugaku made the sword's strike silent and painless. It was also deadly accurate. Hideki's head rolled on the floor and Sayuri was running out of the house before she could see his kind eyes looking back accusingly at her.

As Sayuri jumped across rooftops to get back to the Uchiha compound, her eyes burned with more pain and thick, hot, tears rolled down her cheeks. She tasted them and a metallic flavor filled her mouth. Even though her eyes felt as if they were on fire, her mind and heart were more painful. Her heart wasn't crying because she'd killed Hideki, but because of his words.

He died a kind ninja, not something easy to die as. He had a longer life ahead of him watching her from the shadows with feelings that would never be recognized was what made her heart cry out. She'd ended a life, a life that cared for hers more than she cared for her own.

Sayuri appeared next to Itachi just as he was telling Sasuke to hate him.

"Nee-chan!" Sasuke cried out, his voice breaking and tears rolling down his cheeks. Words failed the young Uchiha and he began to scream a stream of unintelligible words.

"Nee-chan, why are you covered in blood?" Sasuke took a step back, frightened. Sayuri didn't respond; she didn't trust herself to not tell him that all this is an act to protect him from the truth and to tell him that she's sorry and she loves him.

"I have eliminated the Uchiha and Sayuri has eliminated the Hyuuga. If you wish to kill us, hate us, despise us and when you possess the same eyes as us come to me," Itachi said. He took Sayuri's hand and pulled her to jump across rooftops to get out of the village.

Kunai sailed towards them, getting Sayuri's arm and knocking Itachi's hitai-ate off. The two Chuunin stopped and against their will, tears flowed out of their grey and black eyes. Sasuke flinched but was unconscious right after. He dropped to the ground and Sayuri wiped away more tears.

"Let's go, Itachi," Sayuri said. Itachi turned to look at her and saw her face was emotionless. Shock dissipated from his face as he nodded and the two walked out of the compound. Itachi wanted to ask what had happened in the Hyuuga compound, but before he could ask, Hyuuga Hiashi and a small boy stood outside the Uchiha compound gates.

"That's her," the boy said quietly. Hiashi grunted and ordered the boy to go back to the Hyuuga compound.

"Uchiha Sayuri, or should I say Namikaze Sayuri has murdered the Branch members of my clan. From what I see, Uchiha Itachi has murdered his own clan. I do not want to hear why from the children of two men who have done nothing but despise my clan. I will kill you both!" Hiashi said, stepping into the Juuken stance. Sayuri gripped Itachi's hand harder and with the other, grabbed the three-pronged kunai she had in her pocket. Itachi knew her chakra levels were low and before he could stop her, they reappeared just outside the village. Sayuri promptly collapsed. With Sayuri in his arms, Itachi looked around for Madara, the man he was supposed to rendezvous with.

Itachi strained his eyes to search for the man. He saw a faint trail of chakra and followed it. The trail of chakra, unsurprisingly led farther and farther away from the village. In a small clearing where the moon's light illuminated a patch of grass-less dirt, a man with a mask was leaning on a tree as if he simply wanted to. He looked up to see Itachi and pushed off to stand on both legs.

"I was going to immediately introduce you to the other members, but seeing how she's, well," Madara started. "You two can stay at an inn." With that, he sucked the two into his eye and spat them out at a town unfamiliar to either of them. Itachi looked around and still couldn't find where he was. He turned around to ask Madara where he was, but Madara was gone. Itachi frowned and walked through the town to try to find an inn.

At the very end, he found an inn and booked a room. The clerk looked at Sayuri and looked at him and raised a brow. Itachi was lost for a moment before sighing and shaking his head. The clerk gave a look that read, 'I don't want to do this, but whatever.' Itachi took the key and raced up to the room. After placing Sayuri on a bed, he leaned against the wall and eventually succumbed to sleep.

_Nii-san! Why did you lie to me? I know everything about you now. _

Itachi opened his eyes. He'd only drifted off to sleep for a few moments but seeing Sasuke say those words made him unable to sleep.

* * *

"Two new members have arrived," Pein said.

Orochimaru looked up. A feral grin appeared on his face and he stood and followed the other members, Konan, Kisame, Hidan, Kakuzu, Zetsu, and Pein. The seven members stood in attention as the two members walked through the doorway. Madara, or as the seven members knew him, Tobi, introduced them.

"This is Sayuri. I'm sure you've heard of the rumors already spreading regarding these two. And this one is Uchiha Itachi. Both of them have dealt hard blows to Konoha's two strongest clans," Tobi said. Konan seemed to relax at the sight of another female.

Orochimaru grinned as his yellow eyes settled on the girl, Sayuri. He noticed that Tobi hadn't said anything regarding her last name even though he knew exactly who she was.

"I noticed you introduced Itachi-kun with a last name. What about Sayuri-chan?" Orochimaru asked. Konan sent him a glare. She'd never liked the snake anyway. Even though he'd never done anything strange around her, Konan feared for the girl's safety despite the rather obvious way the Uchiha boy stood to protect her.

"I'm Namikaze Sayuri," Sayuri answered, staring Orochimaru right in his yellow eyes. Orochimaru could sense she gave off no fear but could see the malice Itachi had towards him. Orochimaru supposed Itachi saw through his act already. He even probably knew who he was. The other members shifted, either interested or bored.

"I see," Orochimaru said. "I'm Orochimaru."

The girl merely looked surprised before her face calmed into a cold calculating one. Itachi looked downright livid behind that poker face.

"Now that you know who these adorable children are, Orochimaru can show Itachi to his room and Konan can show Sayuri," Tobi sang. Sayuri wanted to raise an eyebrow at his act but since none of the other nuke-nin that stood before her said anything, she shrugged it off and followed the woman with blue hair.

When all the males were gone, Konan knelt in front of Sayuri. Sayuri's first instinct was to take a step back but she reminded herself that she was with S-Ranked nin indefinitely and weakness was not an option. She stood her ground and fought the urge to grab a kunai or bring her hands together to perform a jutsu.

"Sayuri, Orochimaru is different from the rest of the members. I always thought he was strange but when he laid eyes on you there was something different about the way he acted. I could practically see the thoughts in his head going around and around. If he does anything strange to you, you need to come to me and I'll handle it," Konan said.

Sayuri nodded. She had already come up with ways to kill Orochimaru. It wasn't like Sayuri had simply come as a regular Chuunin here; she supposed Hiruzen had already branded both her and Itachi S-Rank nuke-nin and therefore was able to handle a fellow Konoha S-Rank nuke-nin. Orochimaru hadn't seen her in years and therefore had no idea how powerful she was. All those nights staying up late of studying fuuinjutsu hadn't been for naught.

"Good. Here is your room. I suggest you put some kind of seal on it, one that you can only activate with your chakra. If you need anything my door has my name on it," Konan said as she left the girl with her room. Sayuri closed the door and for a moment, lay down on her bed.

A bit shaken and restless, Sayuri rummaged in her coat and pulled out a large scroll. Laying it down on the floor, she unsealed a blanket her mother had stitched and a thin futon with the Uchiha crest stitched on it. Sayuri ran her fingers over the careful stitch work and smiled. Mikoto, despite her misplaced loyalty, was a great person.

Sayuri pulled the blanket to cover the Uchiha crest and took a long look at her mother's stitch work. Honestly, Kushina had worked hard. Still, Sayuri could find a few flaws but that was what made it more heartfelt. The Uzumaki crest adorned all four corners of the blanket and a few lilies were stitched. Overall, it was a white blanket with no other stitches on it.

The warning Sayuri had gotten from Konan still had an effect though. Sayuri didn't dare unseal the rest of the scroll; it had all her other scrolls in it. Even though Sayuri knew she could handle Orochimaru, she knew she wouldn't get out unscathed. Far from it.

Orochimaru had certainly eyed her strangely, although she doubted it was for the reason Konan had implied. Sure, Orochimaru looked creepy but disguise is a ninja's tool. Orochimaru was dangerous and probably wanted to see if his little experiment had come to fruition. Sayuri shivered.

What if she hadn't unlocked the Sharingan? Would Orochimaru have killed her, effectively erasing his mistake? Or would he keep her for other tests? Sayuri didn't know. And really, she didn't want to.

But what would Orochimaru do if he knew she did have her Sharingan? At the moment he didn't know but inevitably he'd find out.

The bigger, and more important question that she was kicking herself over for not thinking of sooner was, why did he experiment on _her_? Surely Orochimaru could've kidnapped a full Uchiha if he was this desperate for the Sharingan. He was one of the Sannin after all. Those three were legendary and if Orochimaru was lying about with other S-Ranked nuke-nin, that only served to prove how dangerous he was.

Sayuri racked her brain as to why he wanted her. Was it because she was Minato's kid? Was it her Uzumaki heritage? Was it simply just convenient? Sayuri frowned. Now that Minato was dead, she was unlikely to ever know his true motives he'd discussed with Orochimaru. Of course, she could ask Orochimaru but she'd run the risk of him pulling something. Sayuri shook her head. She can't fear him. Sure, she hated him but having the Sharingan was an invaluable asset. _I'm going to keep this Sharingan for as long as I live._

Sayuri stood and was about to open the door when a knock came to her door. She twisted the knob and opened the door. She prepared herself should it be Orochimaru and was relieved to see Itachi.

"Sayuri, we have some things to discuss," Itachi said, motioning for her to follow. She nodded and closed her door. Through dimly lit corridors, Itachi twisted and turned until finally he stopped in front of an unmarked door. He pressed his hand to it and a seal matrix glowed for a moment before the door opened and they descended a few flights.

There was a dim light at the end of the stairwell and Sayuri's pace quickened slightly, glad to see light. When her eyes adjusted and looked around, she saw Madara with a scroll in front of him on a table. Two candles illuminated the room and Sayuri saw the faint outlines of a bed in the back. Itachi knelt in front of the scroll and a quick glance told her to do the same.

"Itachi told me that he had some conditions for his being here," Madara said as he wet the ink stone and handed Itachi the brush and pushed the ink stone a bit closer to the Uchiha.

"He doesn't trust me to keep my word so he's demanded that it be in scroll form, as a contract you might say," Madara explained to Sayuri. "He was kind enough to include you in the contract," Sayuri could almost see the smirk on his face.

Sayuri glanced over at Itachi's writing and saw that his conditions were that Madara leave Konoha and Sasuke alone in exchange for being here and lending support.

Another thought that Sayuri was kicking herself again for occurred. It seemed pointless for nuke-nin to simply lounge around so why was there seemingly so much order around here, from the cloak uniforms to the doors? Madara seemed to sense her question and turned his head to face her.

"What's this organization's purpose?" Sayuri asked, her grey eyes carefully devoid of emotion.

"World peace. With power that S-Ranked nin can achieve, peace will be easy to obtain," Madara answered easily.

Sayuri hid her shock. She didn't think it would be that simple but…

A small sigh escaped her lips. If Madara gave her such a simple and easy answer he was unlikely to actually tell her the real reason. Sayuri blinked. _Why do I doubt him so easily? If he easily gave an answer it's unlikely to be a lie. If I think about it, it makes sense. Just normal ninja couldn't achieve peace; they need strong ninja. And this organization is full of strong ninja. Still…if it's a lie…_

Sayuri looked again at the scroll. _Naruto…all I've fed you are lies. Never have I once shown you truth. _

"Sayuri, do you want to add anything to the contract?" Itachi asked, breaking her out of her daze. Sayuri looked up at him before looking down and reading carefully. She saw that Itachi had written in all of what she'd wanted to say. But it wasn't like they were differing in wants; they wanted to ensure the protection of their village therein.

Sayuri shook her head. Madara could've laughed at Minato's grave; it seemed his child wasn't as sharp as he had hoped. Itachi turned back to Madara and the two signed in ink and blood.

Madara rolled up the scroll and handed it to Itachi. Itachi took it and stuffed it in his pocket and the two Chuunin ascended back up. Their steps echoed a little. At the top right before Itachi opened the door once more, he stopped.

"I believe in your skills. Orochimaru may be strong but he's no match for you," Itachi said softly. Normally Sayuri would've said something along the lines of him being too respectful towards her since they were friends (Sayuri cringed; she didn't want to be just friends), but with the seriousness in his voice and his implied meaning, Sayuri didn't respond for a moment, gathering her words.

"Thank you, Itachi. I appreciate you worrying for me, really. If he does anything strange to me, I'll kill him, ttebane," Sayuri slapped a hand over her mouth and turned away. She slammed her hand over the door and the door glowed and opened. She ran to her room, not wanting to hear Itachi's response. She'd said what she wanted to say and she didn't want to hear Itachi take back his words, having heard a verbal tick she'd worked so hard to suppress.

When she was little, she used to have that verbal tick but when Minato noticed it, he trained it out of her. Sayuri had thought the annoying tick was gone but for some reason it came back. She knew that for nearly a decade it had been thrown to the wind and hopefully never seen again, but it had made a ferocious comeback. Sayuri was about to open her door but Orochimaru stood in her way.

"Hello, Sayuri-chan," Orochimaru greeted. Sayuri quickly erased emotion from her face and thoughts of self-hatred as the two stared one another down.

"Orochimaru," Sayuri answered. "Move."

"Oh my, you're awfully harsh. I was just here to ask if you were alright. You're my student's daughter after all," Orochimaru said. "I couldn't act caring in front of those other nuke-nin; what would they think of me?"

Sayuri was taken aback. What was this, some kind of game? What did he want? Then it hit her: the Sharingan. He wanted to know if she had it, didn't he?

Wait, student's daughter?

Sayuri kicked herself again, being so slow today! _What's gotten into me? First my verbal tick and now I can't even think straight!_

"I'm fine. What, you taught my mom? That's funny, Jiraiya-sama taught my dad. Don't you and him hate each other?" Sayuri asked.

"Yes. I've tried to kill that toad but he won't seem to die. I'll bid you good night, Sayuri-chan," Orochimaru said as he walked away. Sayuri frowned. She didn't sense any malice or much of any kind of mal intent from him. It seemed honest. Sayuri gritted her teeth. She ripped open her door and slammed it behind her and curled up on her blanket. She slapped herself and began to unseal some of the advanced fuuinjutsu scrolls. Angrily reading them over, she slowly distracted herself from the stupidity that plagued her mind until someone knocked on her door for dinner.

Sayuri opened the door to see Itachi, the one person she didn't want to see. She expected to see a disappointed look in his eyes at her stupidity but was shocked to see a kind look.

"Pein has ordered everyone to dinner. He especially wants us two. I don't know why you've been so hard on yourself recently but it's okay. We've got each other's back for as long as we live. Secrets and lies are the things that break shinobi. I don't want us to break away. Will you promise me that?" Itachi held out his hand.

Sayuri nodded and shook it. She closed her door and followed Itachi to the dining hall. Even though his words had been comforting, they didn't stop the resentment she had towards herself. Sayuri bit her tongue. _I can't be thinking like this. I've got to fulfill my role here along with Itachi so I can't slack off and think like this. I've got Orochimaru to kill and Konoha to protect. That is my goal. _

**A/N Hehe I'm finally leaving an author's note. Sorry about the shortness and the way this chapter turned out. I've been watching SOL anime and it's really messing with me. I'll give Sayuri a rest for a few chapters and then I hope Sayuri will return to normal because honestly, she got OOC the moment Madara replied to her question of why the Akatsuki had formed. (otherwise this story might get abandoned:(**


	6. Sasuke

Summary: On October 10th, Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina died, leaving behind two children. Sixteen years later, when Minato is revived, he's in for quite a shock. For starters, one of his children is an Akatsuki member and the other is a happy-go-lucky idiot. Note: Yondaime bashing and OC Warning.

* * *

Sasuke's knees shook. He wanted to cry out. He wanted to scream but no sound dared escape. Finally, his knees gave way and he knelt there, tears rolling down his cheeks like rivers. The dam finally broke and sobs racked his body. His hands covered his eyes and wiped away tears as intelligible words came out just as quickly as his tears came.

Suddenly stronger hands ripped his hands away and the world came back. Its fangs opened and finally an ear-shattering scream rang out. Sasuke tried to stand but his hands were being held back painfully. Any wrong move would lead to his wrist being broken.

He heard himself telling his captor to let him go, unaware of who it was nor caring. A smooth voice replied back. The voice simply froze everything. Sasuke found himself back in square one, fearful. The sight in front of him was making his fear level rise even faster.

Then it restarted.

More blood. More bodies. More memories of people he loved ripped apart and drenched in blood. Sasuke let out another scream, but this time it was simply inside his head. He heard himself pleading something different, something like 'don't kill me'.

The smooth voice went to a figure and Sasuke was standing with the moon shining on him, his black hair giving off a slight glint. Most colors are subdued, but the one color he always found interesting, especially for a hair color, was red.

Sasuke took a frightened step back. He thought she could fight back, that she could beat the smooth-voiced figure in a fight. But that thought, like all this other thoughts, was crushed under the sheer amount of blood and ruined memories. He was praying to Kami for once to save her.

A sword glinted in the moonlight.

But marred with blood.

Sasuke tried to take another frightened step back. He found his body had frozen up and he couldn't move. His lips quivered, trying to make words to plead what was going to happen stop; his eyes tried to move away but were horrifyingly mesmerized by what he saw in front of him.

The sword made a clean movement and her body dropped to the ground. The smooth voice showed no remorse, at least not to Sasuke's face. The figure turned away and began to walk further and further away. Sasuke's legs could finally move and he raced up to the figure.

A painful kick was dealt to his right side making a sickening crack echo in Sasuke's ears and another crack in his arm echoed when a wall stopped his momentum. With his left, his only good arm, he pulled himself up to his feet and grabbed kunai.

Left wasn't his dominant side but it would have to work. He let the kunai fly towards the figure he'd admired along with his father and the girl who lay dead on the ground.

The figure simply turned around and dodged. Sasuke flinched and suddenly found himself on the receiving end of so many kicks and punches, causing more cracks to echo. Sasuke lay limp on the ground, blood seeping through his clothes and his head throbbing painfully. His eyes moved to look at the figure and saw that the figure was gone. Darkness enveloped his vision.

Sasuke gasped. White filled his vision. He half-expected his older sister to be here, telling him it was simply a bad dream but when he looked around as he sat up, he was alone. He pulled his knees to his chest and rested his cheeks on them. His arms wrapped around his legs and he stole a glance outside the window.

The village looked the same.

Sasuke looked dully at the pale covers and he began to think about that night.

_I understand that Itachi is a terrible person. He killed our clan. He left me alive because I'm weak. When I get out of here, I'm going to train and be the best. I'm going to be the best and murder that murderer. But what I can't understand is why he had to drag Nee-chan down with him. She was so pure-hearted. Itachi must've forced her to kill the Hyuuga and took her along with him. They're engaged after all so he must've dragged her along because she has power and is tied to him._

_I have to get stronger so I can face them and once I kill Itachi I can ask her why she had to go with him. I just can't believe Nee-chan would do anything that extreme. She's got to be forced. _

_I have to get stronger._

_I have to be the best._

_I have to kill Itachi and restore the clan he murdered. _

An angry glint shone in Sasuke's eyes as the nurse on the attending floor came into his room.

"You're awake, Sasuke-chan?" the nurse gave him a kind smile. Her smile faded as she peered into his eyes. "It seems you have unlocked your family's doujutsu."

Sasuke didn't respond. His new resolve was echoing in his mind as the nurse checked his vitals and scribbled something down on her clipboard.

Sasuke leaned on his pillow and was vaguely aware of another person in the room. It was a boy that was probably around his age, judging from the annoying sound he made. Sasuke was unable to rip out the language hardwired into his brain and sadly understood what the boy across the curtain was saying.

"Why can't I see out of my left eye! Why can't I take off these bandages?! Hey, nurse!" the boy was screeching.

"Shut up," Sasuke muttered.

"Is someone there? Please help me!" the boy pleaded. Sasuke stood and walked over to the boy out of sheer annoyance and wish to shut him up. Even though the boy had only spoken twenty-four words, it was grating on the Uchiha's mental state.

Sasuke was within the boy's line of sight when the Hokage walked in. The Hokage had a look on his face that seemed like he was in a hurry but lessened when he laid eyes on the bandaged and restrained boy and the Uchiha.

"Ah, Sasuke-kun, you're awake. This is Uzumaki Naruto. He recently lost his eye to an accident. It was replaced with someone else's eye to salvage his vision. Oh, you have your Sharingan already? Congratulations, Sasuke-kun," Hiruzen said. Sasuke sighed and went back to his bed and slept, the boy's whole grating and annoying twenty-four-word speech taking a toll on Sasuke's mind.

* * *

"Hello Sasuke-kun. I'm Doctor Takeshi, a psychological doctor. I understand you've been through a scary experience but I'm here to help. I'm going to ask you lots of questions and I want you to answer them honestly, even if you're scared. You can take as much time as you need," a doctor said as he walked in the next day. The man had a forgettable face with black hair and brown eyes and a kind complexion. He took a seat next to Sasuke and gripped a clipboard with one hand and a pen in the other.

"What is your full name?" Takeshi asked.

"Uchiha Sasuke," Sasuke answered dully.

"How old are you?" Takeshi asked.

"Eight."

"What do you remember recently?" Takeshi poised his pen over something on the clipboard.

"Well, my brother killed my clan. He took my sister, who isn't actually my sister; she's the daughter of the Yondaime Hokage and is engaged to him, along with him after he killed the clan," Sasuke began to get angry. "He forced her to kill the Hyuuga and is still using her power, which is greater than his own, wherever he took her. He's a murderer who is ruthless and one day I'm going to kill him and restore my clan and save my sister from him!"

"Okay. I know this must be hard, but what do you remember from the Uchiha Massacre's night?" Takeshi asked.

"I remember that murderer standing over my parents' dead bodies and then a horrible genjutsu that replayed everyone's death over and over! I'm going to get my revenge on him and kill him!" Sasuke repeated.

"Is that all?" Takeshi asked, scribbling quickly.

"No, he told me that if I wanted to kill him I had to hate him, detest him, cling to life and kill my best friend. And I want to kill him," Sasuke said. Takeshi's mouth dipped a bit with a frown and scribbled something more.

"Do you believe if Uchiha Sayuri is captured for questioning that she should repent for any of her crimes?" Takeshi asked.

"Of course not. None of this was her fault. This was all Itachi's fault," Sasuke said. "Nee-chan was kind and taught me jutsu a few hours before the Uchiha were all slaughtered."

"I see. I had more questions but I won't ask them. You're still affected greatly by this event and I hope you will get over this. Good day, Sasuke-kun," Takeshi said. He got up and walked out. It seemed the boy from earlier was either asleep or discharged. Sasuke was beginning to lose track of what day it was and it wasn't like he cared.

Sasuke glared outside the window and once Takeshi left, Sasuke jumped out of the window and landed deftly on his feet. He quickly made his way to the Uchiha compound on the other side of the village.

The skies darkened and rain began to fall as he ducked under the yellow tape saying 'No entry'. He glanced up at the skies and it seemed as if the skies were pressing their depressing aura on his heart. He bit his lip; it was working. He shut his eyes and ran to his house.

"Kaa-san! Tou-san! Nee-chan!" Sasuke cried out. No response. He ran to his parents' room and let out a small sound of disappointment and fright when he saw the white lines that outlined his parents' dead bodies. He turned away and ran to Sayuri's room.

None of her scrolls lay in the bookcase and the nice blanket she used to have was gone, along with several pairs of her clothes. Sasuke didn't dare go into his brother's room; it was a room full of lies. Itachi had said he'd only been the brother Sasuke had wanted to test him and now that those words carried a whole massacre behind them, Itachi's image was shattered in Sasuke's mind. The only emotion that could come to mind when Sasuke though of Itachi was hate for killing his clan and dragging Sayuri along with him.

Sasuke walked out of the Uchiha compound an hour later having gone down a painful trip of memory lane. The skies were still dark and Sasuke looked up, hearing rustling. Sasuke didn't have any weapons on him and honestly doubted (and didn't care) if he was going to be attacked.

Sasuke passed through the gates and saw the rows of trash, each bin being huge. One bin read 'burnable', another 'recyclable' and another 'non-burnable'. Sasuke stopped and peered into the dark area to his right.

The rummaging sound didn't stop, as if the person pilfering through the trash hadn't heard Sasuke's heavy sorrow-laden footsteps.

"Hey, who's there?" Sasuke demanded. The rummaging stopped and a head looked up to see who had demanded his identity.

Whiskers.

Blonde hair.

One blue colored eye and one black colored eye.

And a dumb look on his face.

Sasuke glared. "Who are you?"

"Uzumaki Naruto," the boy replied. Sasuke knew that name was familiar. He just couldn't remember where from. Within two seconds of trying to figure out who it was, Sasuke gave up. If he couldn't recall his name, why would it be important anyway?

"We're in the same Academy class and the same hospital room," Naruto supplied, seeing the blank look on Sasuke's face. Sasuke's expression changed to an apathetic one. Naruto scowled and continued pilfering.

"Hey, why're you digging in the trash?" Sasuke asked.

"Cause Taro and Sora said that there's a book they wanted me to find. If I found it then they'd be my friends. They said it was by the Uchiha compound but I can't decide where the Uchiha would put books. Would it be recyclable or burnable? Or non-burnable?" Naruto said. The last part clearly wasn't intended for an answer. That's what Sasuke thought anyway. Naruto looked expectantly at him and was surprised to see the same apathetic look on Sasuke's face.

"Get out. No sane Uchiha would throw away a book. I don't know who you are but you need to get out and stay away. If you don't I'll kill you," Sasuke said. A flash of shock rippled on the Uchiha's face, as if regretting what he'd said. Naruto hummed thoughtfully.

"Do you want to be friends? Oh, do you have any books to give me if you don't want to be friends?" Naruto asked, holding out one hand and digging with the other, glancing up for a moment. Sasuke was taken aback. This boy had something wrong with him. Didn't he see that whoever these Taro and Sora people were tricking him? Obviously not. Sasuke narrowed his eyes. He thought stupidity didn't exist anymore. Apparently it came in all shapes and sizes, including a seven-year-old blonde with weird whiskers and a friend-desperate personality.

"Hn," Sasuke walked past him.

"Hey! Then, do you have any books?" Naruto called out. Sasuke didn't respond. Naruto stared at the Uchiha's back. He knew Sasuke didn't have any friends either and he hoped that the Uchiha would see similarity they held and they'd erase loneliness with friendship. It would be a win-win seeing how the Uchiha seemed to be all uptight and serious and being friends would make Sasuke more sociable and Naruto could learn a few things to get out of the bottom of the Academy class.

Naruto sighed and turned back to his task of pilfering. Sasuke kept walking with his hands in his pockets.

He didn't know where he would end up but when his footsteps stopped, he looked up and saw a house that had a sign reading 'Private Property of (Namikaze) Konoha'. Sasuke's thoughts connected back about three years ago. Itachi and Sayuri had said that she wasn't a true Uchiha and she was only living there because her parents died and she had an engagement contract with Itachi. And Sayuri said her father was the Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato.

"It's really cool inside. But it sucks because the floors are a bitch to clean," Naruto whistled.  
"I thought I told you to stay away," Sasuke hissed.

"Do I look like I care? I think I'm on track with breaking every single rule and thing in Konoha. You just so happen to be my next target: break Uchiha Sasuke's mind," Naruto grinned devilishly. Sasuke narrowed his eyes in a disgusted expression.

"Let's go in," Naruto said, walking through the gate and stepping through overgrown vegetation. He walked up the steps and halfway up, he turned his head and gave Sasuke a beckoning look. Sasuke didn't move. He seemed to actually be weighing the options of following the village pariah.

"Come on already; you'll catch a cold," Naruto said finally. Sasuke gave him a harsh glare but complied and with chakra-enhanced jumps, he made his way past the blonde and to the door. Naruto scowled. He was showing off!

"Don't we need a key?" Sasuke asked, his voice laced with worry but was overall skeptical.

"No," Naruto said as if Sasuke had asked a stupid question. Oh yeah, it was a stupid question. Naruto didn't dare sigh at the Uchiha, he knew that the kid could totally kick his ass and he wanted to avoid as much pain as possible. He wanted a friend after all.

Naruto pulled out a few thin rods of metal and a small knife and in a flash the lock was picked. Sasuke hid his surprise; no way in hell was he giving an idiot satisfaction he knew how to do something he didn't. The two stepped inside and Sasuke was amazed at how clean it was, even though the Yondaime died seven years ago.

After slipping off their shoes, Naruto flicked on a light. Sasuke noticed that Naruto knew where it was without searching for it for even a moment. This was…alarming. Did Naruto come here _that_ often?

"Aw man! There used to be this really cool book that I could've totally given to Taro and Sora! I bet that stupid red-haired girl took it. What was her name? Sadist?" Naruto complained as he was pilfering (again) through drawers in the kitchen. He turned to Sasuke as the black-haired boy closed the door and shivered a little from the difference of temperatures; it was cold outside but nice and warm in the house.

"Red-haired girl? You mean Sayuri? How dare you call her stupid! She was my sister!" Sasuke snarled as he stormed up to the blonde and grabbed his collar in his hand with a murderous look in his eyes.

"Oh so you're the one she was talking about, like a year ago. Well, she's stupid because she threw paint on me. And stared at me with a look in her eyes that seemed like she was in an unbelievable amount of pain with those eyes you Uchiha have. What's it called? Shark bait?" Naruto gave another puzzled look to Sasuke.

"Sharingan, you idiot. Do you pay attention? Ever?" Sasuke asked, not really wanting to know but thoroughly appalled by Naruto's stupidity. _Does his stupidity know no bounds?_

"Yeah, she had those creepy red eyes, Sharing game," Naruto continued.

"Sharingan," Sasuke corrected as Naruto lounged on a couch and patted the seat next to him. Sasuke glared again, not wanting to be near such stupidity, lest he be affected.

"So anyway she seemed to be like, angry about something and talking about how I wasn't a ninja because I didn't sense her coming and how in the past she saw, like, a ton of bodies with blood and dead people and this guy dying along with this other person that was kind or something. Also, she was like, 'My father was a strong Hokage, doing whatever he could to make the village strong. Even if that meant using people he was supposed to care about and exploiting bloodlines and sacrificing childhoods and taking his wife down with him in his death. You're not a ninja so you can't begin to imagine my horror as I saw my parents be impaled by the Kyuubi's claw to save a mere child. Can you imagine them lying in their own pools of blood, giving their last words, unable to be there for the people they cared about? Once you can come to me with all your power and prove to me that you're worthy of that worthless Hokage title'," Naruto took another breath as Sasuke sat on a chair, not within arm's length of him.

"So then I'm like, 'Bring it on!' And then she dumps paint on me. And then this guy with silver hair slaps her face and says how she went too far and how she was a Chuunin and when the Jounin guy said to stop she had to stop or something," Naruto said.

"You remembered what Nee-chan threatened you with but you can't remember a single thing in the Academy? You're hopeless. How the hell do you expect to fight her for the Hokage title? She's the Yondaime Hokage's _daughter_. She's even in the textbooks. She was trained by him until he died and then was trained with the Uchiha until her defection…" Sasuke trailed off, sadness edging his voice as he looked away. Memories of the hours before the Uchiha and Hyuuga were massacred came back and Sayuri was teaching him jutsu. It felt so good being taught by her; she was kind and patient.

"I'm going to be Hokage and beat her so I'm not hopeless," Naruto argued, scowling angrily. Wait, wait, plan! Plan: Become Friends with Uchiha Sasuke/ Break His Mind was still in its beginning stages! At this rate the plan would be inevitably unattainable and then what would Naruto do?!

"Yeah right," Sasuke scoffed. "What book did you even plan on giving anyway?" Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"This cool cookbook with pictures and handwritten notes. It was really easy to follow in concept but when I tried to make homemade ramen I couldn't tell the difference between 1 ½ cups of flour and one, like quantity, half cup. So I ended up putting in three cups of flour and don't get me started on the soup stock," Naruto cringed, remembering how badly that had ended up.

Sasuke stared at him, not believing a word he'd just said. This…this was too much. This boy…he was beyond stupid. He was beyond retarded. He wasn't even a vegetable. He was another breed of stupid.

How wasn't he kicked out of the Academy? Sasuke knew that the Academy rules were that if you failed a certain percentage of exams you'd be either kicked out or you'd be forced to take remedial lessons on weekends. And if you didn't get your act together after that, you'd be dropped from the Academy and forced to take up an apprenticeship within the civilian workforce.

Sasuke was too horrified to want to know.

"So you want the grand tour?" Naruto jumped up and grinned again. Sasuke felt sick. Naruto must've taken his lack of response as a yes so he grabbed Sasuke's hand and dragged him around the house.

"So this is a bathroom," Naruto peeked in, as if spying on the ghost of the Yondaime taking a bath. "And this is a study room. And this is a closet. And these two doors are doors I can't open or open the windows from. It really sucks. I've been in both of these rooms before but a since, I don't know, they've been sealed or something. I can't figure it out. Can you?" Naruto asked, perked up. Sasuke was either going to bash his head in or throttle Naruto. It was probably going to be both soon.

Naruto, again took his lack of response as another yes (Sasuke was beginning to wonder if the boy was deaf) and took Sasuke up to the roof. Just when Sasuke was finally drying off from the rain, he's soaked and staring at a seal matrix on the roof. It was seriously beyond him. Fugaku hadn't lived long enough and Sayuri hadn't stayed in Konoha long enough to teach him about seals, even though he knew that all the scrolls Sayuri kept in her room were fuuinjutsu scrolls.

Sasuke simply walked away and jumped back down to the front door and went back inside, not wanting to be freezing. Naruto seemed to be unaffected but Sasuke supposed the boy would eventually, hopefully, succumb to hypothermia and be away from him forever.

Naruto grumbled a few curses as he followed the damned Uchiha. It wasn't working! Naruto had hoped to rid the Uchiha boy of his hereditary illness of being cold and uptight. Narrowing his eyes, he decided he had to take a gamble and turn it up a notch. If it didn't work, then Naruto would fail in his conspiracy to become Sasuke's friend. He shook his head. That wasn't an option!

Naruto jumped down from the roof and came back inside. He readied his proposal to Sasuke and looked the Uchiha straight in the eyes. The Uchiha gave him a horrified and sickened look. That did not deter the future Hokage.

"Sasuke, do you," Naruto stared with utmost seriousness. Sasuke gave him a skeptical look and an offended one when Naruto placed his hands on his shoulders and kept staring. Like an idiot. "Want to go to Ichiraku Ramen with me?"

That was it. Uchiha Sasuke was going to commit suicide. This…this was too much. The idiot kept proving his idiocy again and again and Sasuke had had enough. If the blonde was going to get his close to him this often, Sasuke was going to kill both him and himself. There was no way in hell he'd be friends with this…thing.

Sasuke didn't respond. He feared he'd spew out curses that his Uchiha ancestors would cringe at. Or he'd end up killing the blonde. A slow, horrifying grin spread across Naruto's face as a slow, pleasing image of Naruto's murder played out in Sasuke's mind. Naruto took the black-haired boy and off they went to Ichiraku Ramen.

Sasuke blinked. Where the hell was he? His hearing came to and a terrifying slurping noise came from his right. He didn't want to look; he was afraid of what he'd see. The overpowering smell of ramen filled Sasuke's nostrils and he wanted to eat rice with grilled mackerel and green tea (a tea akin to matcha, but not as strong; something more bitter). It was salty, greasy, and disgusting. Sasuke didn't touch the bowl of steaming carb-rich noodles and avoided eye contact with it.

Another customer came in and ordered simply shoyu ramen, soy sauce flavor ramen. Sasuke was too annoyed with everything and anything to eat. No, annoyed was a severe understatement. The concept of being annoyed had been reached and breached the moment Naruto opened his mouth back at the Uchiha compound.

Naruto happily slurped his noodles away and glanced at Sasuke's bowl ravenously. When another beat of silence and lack of movement passed over the Uchiha, Naruto grabbed his bowl and began to eat his share. Sasuke made no attempt at stopping him. Maybe the boy would choke and die. That would be the day Sasuke would finally have peace. Sasuke almost smiled at the thought. Peace. No Naruto. That was the best thing that could happen to him right now.

"Hey, Sasuke, that's the guy that slapped Sadist when she threw paint on me," Naruto whispered. Sasuke could've ripped out his throat and he still couldn't be any worse at whispering; Naruto was terrible at whispering. And even if he weren't, the Jounin would've noticed him anyway. If he didn't but was able to land a hit on Sayuri, Sasuke would severely doubt the Jounin Exams, the body of Jounin in the village, and the silver-haired Jounin himself. Sasuke was too angry to notice the fact Naruto hadn't said Sayuri's name properly. It wasn't even close!

"Naruto, do you ever shut up?" Sasuke seriously asked as he turned back to face Naruto. The Jounin glanced at them and eye-smiled as he somehow already finished his noodles even though he had only been sitting there for a few minutes. This Jounin had skill…Sasuke suddenly wanted to be his student. Badly. Maybe that would get him a ticket far, far away from Naruto. Another pleasant thought that tugged another smile from Sasuke, almost winning. Almost.

"But I thought…" Naruto started as he finished chewing the noodles that hung out of his mouth. Sasuke willed him to choke but it seemed Kami wasn't listening.

"Oh Kami, you _thought_? Naruto, the world will explode when you _think_," Sasuke said, truly horrified.

"I'm glad you two get along," the silver-haired Jounin said. Sasuke turned to him slowly, giving him his best Uchiha glare. Even Hyuuga would cringe at it. Fugaku and Itachi had been the best and Sasuke knew he was a distant third, but this guy wasn't an Uchiha so he couldn't possible have immunity against it.

Sadly, Kami wasn't listening to Sasuke's pleas again. The Jounin's look didn't change. Not even the apathy in his eye with the mask covering his face. Sasuke was revolted that a Jounin would waltz up to him and the thing (Sasuke was no longer acknowledging Naruto as a person; that thought went away when Naruto couldn't read properly despite having been in his Academy class for the last _year_) and claim the two were, of all things, friends. What nerve! No one, and Sasuke meant _no one_ went up to an Uchiha and claimed they were friends with _anyone_ unless the Uchiha agreed. It didn't matter what the other party thought; if an Uchiha believed they were friends with someone, it was game over. That person was the Uchiha's friend until the Uchiha either stopped talking to them or they died.

Luckily, Uchiha almost never befriended people outside the Uchiha clan so very few people were friends with Uchiha. Sasuke was not about to befriend the thing and would rather die than do so.

"We are not friends. We will never be friends. How dare you assume that thing and I are friends! How dare you raise your hand against Nee-chan! How dare you sit here as if you've done nothing wrong!" Sasuke ground out, his blood boiling. The Jounin was unfazed.

"You're awfully…hmmm, how should I put this?" the Jounin paused. "Maybe sensitive or easily irritated or…a classic Uchiha."

"Why did you raise your hand against Uchiha Sayuri? She is simply a victim of _that man's_ actions. He took her all because that idiotic Yondaime Hokage and my father signed an engagement contract and because she possesses power greater than his own," Sasuke growled. The Jounin pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Sasuke without a word.  
Oh, Kami has heard his pleas! Glorious days!

_In the turbulent aftermath of the Uchiha Massacre, Elite Jounin Hatake Kakashi is to take Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto for a year to train in a nearby area one day's journey from Konoha. Uchiha Sasuke has shown signs of mental instability and Uzumaki Naruto…_

Sasuke threw the paper to the ground before reading it fully and stormed off. Kami wasn't listening! Kami was mocking him! Torturing him!

At least Kakashi would be his mentor.

Sasuke didn't know why he was stuck with Naruto and was almost regretting not having read the paper Kakashi had handed to him. He stopped about thirty feet away from Ichiraku Ramen and was suddenly picked up by the back of his collar. Sasuke, startled, looked behind him and saw that Kakashi had picked him up.

"Just where do you think you're going?" Kakashi asked cheerily. Sasuke glared. Kakashi seemed to actually have a brain despite his strange cheerful demeanor (Sasuke doubted the legitimacy of this) as opposed to Naruto, who wasn't even in the positive numbers on an IQ test. He probably would make the test burst into flames to avoid his hands that would write dreams of ramen instead of following the directions to add simple numbers. Or perhaps he'd write about his tendencies to drive people to suicide.

It didn't matter.

Oh, that's right. Kakashi still hadn't answered Sasuke's question.

"I'm going to ask again: why did you raise your hand against Uchiha Sayuri?" Sasuke asked, his voice level. He kept angry edges out of it to avoid any possible avoiding he'd get from Kakashi.

"You know, her real name is Namikaze Sayuri. She was a really cute baby," Kakashi said. "As for your question, I'll let you experience firsthand why you don't disobey orders from a higher ranking shinobi. You, Naruto, and I are going on a mandatory training trip for a year, you know. That'll be plenty of time to learn about me and my tendencies to make excellent shinobi unless I'm too busy to be bothered," Kakashi said. "Even though I've failed all the Genin I've tested. Oh well, you two are an order from Hokage-sama so I can't fail you two," the Jounin sounded almost disappointed.

Stupid sadist Jounin.

* * *

Kakashi smirked. He had two options: get a rise out of the old man and get there late or surprise him by being there. His book would be sacrificed though…

Kakashi got up and stuffed his book in his back pocket before slipping on another shirt and his Jounin vest. Running a comb through his hair, Kakashi tied his hitai-ate around his forehead, grabbed kunai and shuriken holsters and scrolls, and walked out with his shoes already on. With the door locked behind him, he set off to the Hokage's office, intent on surprising him. Well, he hoped surprise would be an understatement.

Meanwhile, in another part of Konoha, Uchiha Sasuke was being roughly woken up. The black-haired boy was having dreams of murdering Itachi and seeing Sayuri and his life being good again but it seemed nothing would be turning out the way Sasuke was hoping.

"…ke!"

Sasuke knew that voice.

He didn't want to know how _it_ got into his apartment.

"Sasu…!"

Please, go away. _Forever_ would be more than preferable.  
Why can't it be a nightmare? At least Sasuke could wake up from a nightmare!

No, this wasn't a nightmare. This was a cruel reality. It reminded Sasuke of the Uchiha Massacre. When he'd first seen the dead bodies of the Uchiha, especially his parents, Sasuke was sure he was in a terrible genjutsu but in actuality, he was stuck in reality.

This was almost on par with Itachi's Uchiha Massacre.

"Sasuke! I have a really important question!" _it_ screeched.

Sasuke got up with lightning speed, his single tomoe eyes spinning menacingly. He pushed Naruto against the wall and glared.

"What the hell do you want?!" Sasuke asked, angry that _it _was here and angry his blood was boiling this early in the morning.

"Where's your ramen? Like, I'm hungry and I'm broke," Naruto explained as Sasuke pushed him away.

Did Naruto not see his Sharingan? Was he _blind _and _deaf_?!

Sasuke glanced at the time and cursed. He grabbed clothes and quickly changed in the bathroom. Once he got out, he smelled…burning.

Sasuke threw his dirty clothes in a basket for dirty clothes and ran to his kitchen to see that Naruto had pulled out a pan and had burned rice. How is it possible to have the rice catch fire? There wasn't anything flammable in this apartment!

Sasuke grabbed a water bottle from the fridge and doused the flames while turning off the flame under the pan. Once the flames on the rice were out, Sasuke inspected the rice sadly. He threw a murderous glare at Naruto for a moment before throwing away the rice and putting the pan under some water to soak and soften the burned pieces.

"What the hell were you thinking?! How the hell did it catch on fire?!" Sasuke demanded, looking through his fridge for something to eat. And no, he was not giving _it_ food. He'd wasted rice; there was no way in hell Sasuke could trust him with something else. Rice was a plain and humble food, simple in flavor but went well with everything. Naruto had just wasted a good amount of rice and Sasuke was seeing the room through various shades of red.

"Fried rice. I couldn't find any oil so I used this," Naruto held up a bottle. "I mean, it says oil, doesn't it?"

"There is a stark difference between the kanji for oil and for sake," Sasuke stated dryly. He pulled out a sheet of paper and a pen and neatly wrote out kanji. "Look."

Two kanji were written and Sasuke tapped them with the end of his pen. Once was oil,油, and the other was alcohol, 酒.

"They look the same so it's hard!" Naruto whined. "They have that thing on the left…whatever it's called."

"It's a radical. This particular radical on the left is 'sanzui'. It's often used for liquids. I'm going to assume you know what a liquid is," Sasuke said as Naruto stared blankly at him with mismatched eyes that honestly disturbed Sasuke. He wanted to ask why he didn't have his other blue eye but according to what Hiruzen had said, Naruto lost the left one in an accident. If Hiruzen wasn't going to tell him then, then Sasuke didn't need to know.

Maybe he did have to know if he's going on a training trip with Kakashi and _it_?

"What?" Sasuke snapped, walking looking for a granola bar. He threw one at Naruto and took another and began to chew.

"You…you're…" Naruto started. Sasuke raised a brow.

"You're a nerd! You actually read that worthless textbook!" Naruto whooped, his mouth wide open like a cavern in an overly amused expression. Many pieces of granola flying out of his mouth and landing on various surfaces including the floor, table, stovetop, and Sasuke's face.

Something tangibly snapped in the air and Naruto suddenly couldn't laugh, or breathe for that matter. His head and back hurt and he saw Sasuke's angry single-tomoe Sharingan spinning once more.

"You're disgusting! You waltz into my apartment like you own it, your burn my food, you insult me, and then slobber-coated granola bar pieces which I didn't have to give you," Sasuke mentally paused, wondering why he gave Naruto one in the first place. Maybe on a strange whim? "hit my face!"

"Whoa, whoa…" Naruto whispered, his voice unable to rise due to two hands strangling him. Sasuke let him drop to the floor, sliding down the wall. In an angry flurry, Sasuke grabbed various ninja gear he'd gleaned from the Uchiha compound and tied them around his person. Naruto was coughing loudly as air was able to rush back into his lungs.

"We're going to be late, dobe!" Sasuke announced as he walked back to Naruto and dragged him out before anything could be burned, destroyed, or dirtied. Naruto was still coughing when Sasuke locked the door of his apartment.

Sasuke threw Naruto another glare as the blonde stood. Naruto returned the glare with a smile and happily trotted behind the brooding Uchiha. The two quickly made their way to the Hokage's office and for some reason, the Hokage was staring at the silver-haired Jounin as if he'd seen a ghost.

"Oi, Jiji, why're you staring at this sexual harasser like he's killed someone or something?" Naruto blurted out, not caring who heard. Hiruzen composed himself and it took all Sasuke's willpower not to kill the blonde right there and then. Or rip out his tongue so he couldn't speak.

"Sexual harasser?" Kakashi and Hiruzen repeated, the former's voice sounding like a mixture of amusement and anger.

"He was the one who slapped Sadist on the face like a year ago. Jiji, are you sure you can trust me with someone like that? Sadist might be like, a criminal and deserve it but if this guy is going around slapping kids, is he trustworthy?" Naruto drawled. Sasuke was unaware Naruto could keep a coherent string of words for so long.

"_Sayuri_, you idiot!" Sasuke hissed.

"Yeah, yeah, all you Uchiha are the same, all uptight and have sticks jammed up your asses. Don't worry, that's why I'm here; to rid you and Salmon of your Uchiha illness. I'm going to fix you and beat Strawberry in a fight and become Hokage, dattbayo!" Naruto gave his signature smile.

Sasuke was so appalled that he couldn't form any words to retaliate with. He was beginning to think that the blonde didn't even have a brain. He was beyond a deaf, blind, and incoherent vegetable. Perhaps he wasn't even human, perhaps he was some alien species that was sent from Kami to screw with Sasuke's mind. Personally.

"This is Hatake Kakashi, Elite Jounin of Konoha. He is the best Jounin in the village and he possesses the Sharingan. Naruto, you lost your eye due to an attack. For Sasuke's benefit, I'll explain," Hiruzen turned to Sasuke. "In the hours before Namikaze Sayuri slaughtered the Hyuuga out of a sudden break in her mental state, Uzumaki Naruto had crossed paths with Sayuri. According to him, he had planned a secret prank on her. He managed to approach her undetected but when she finally noticed him, she attacked viciously causing him to lose his eye. We're not entirely sure what jutsu she used and what caused her to lash out so violently, but that isn't the issue," Hiruzen said. "Uchiha Itachi had actually spared another Uchiha, only for him to die later on due to his wounds. This Uchiha consented to allowing his eyes be given to Naruto on a condition that Naruto be trained by Kakashi alongside you. That isn't the only reason you're being brought on this training expedition. When Dr. Takeshi interviewed you, you repeated over and over that you wanted to kill Itachi. I don't want you on the path of revenge. Because Itachi and Sayuri pose a serious threat to the village's safety even now, I wanted you to be trained to use the Sharingan properly so that if another attack comes without warning you two will be able to protect yourselves, especially since both of them hold the most advanced stages of the Sharingan."

Sasuke stood, shocked. Sayuri…she had the Sharingan? Sasuke though Naruto was hallucinating all that time when he was talking about Sayuri because he couldn't even say 'Sharingan' or 'Sayuri' right. Hearing it from Hiruzen gave another dimension of reality.

"Kakashi already has the necessary things for your trip. By the way, your trip will last a year in case you didn't know. I wish you three good luck. I expect great things from you two," Hiruzen gave a soft smile.

"Hai, Hokage," Sasuke said, not bothering to add the honorific 'sama'.

"I'm going to be great, dattebayo!" Naruto grinned and the two children followed Kakashi out of the Hokage's office and left for their journey.


	7. Genius?

Summary: On October 10th, Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina died, leaving behind two children. Sixteen years later, when Minato is revived, he's in for quite a shock. For starters, one of his children is an Akatsuki member and the other is a happy-go-lucky idiot. Note: Yondaime bashing and OC Warning.

* * *

"Naruto, go easy on him," Kakashi suggested. It didn't seem all that effective however; he didn't look up from his book and if he hadn't said a name, then Naruto would've concluded that he was talking to himself.

"I don't get it," Sasuke snapped. Naruto cocked his head, as if to question it.

"Why're you acting like you're coherent all of a sudden? You were acting like an idiot back in Konoha, going through the trash and you couldn't even say Sayuri's name properly! What's with that?" Sasuke demanded.

There was a glint in Naruto's eyes. It wasn't a mischievous glint; it was one that seemed to know so, so much more than what was said. Sasuke hadn't seen a glint in Naruto's eyes. He'd only seen stupidity behind those mismatched eyes.

Oh, speaking of mismatched eyes, didn't Hiruzen say that the black one was an Uchiha's eye. Could Naruto even use the Sharingan? Now that Naruto was doing a fantastic job at hiding his stupidity, Sasuke decided that an easy yes or no question might be doable.

"Can you use the Sharingan?" Sasuke asked. "And, you still haven't answered my first question."

Naruto smiled and looked up at a tree as they were taking a break from Kakashi's tough training regimen. Sweat poured down their heads despite the cool October air.

"Did you bring me a cake? I know you know it's my birthday," Naruto said to the tree, looking up at something in it. Sasuke sweatdropped. Maybe he'd overestimated his multitasking capacity.

"Who're you talking to?" Sasuke hissed. Naruto disregarded him and stood. He easily walked up the tree and came back down with a bird in his hands. The bird looked like it was in pain by the looks of it and Naruto only squeezed harder. The bird let out a cry of pain.

"Hey, those birds are endangered! Let it go!" Sasuke stood and wrestled Naruto for it. Naruto easily delivered a roundhouse kick to Sasuke and he was slammed onto the ground in pain. Kakashi looked up and sauntered over, putting his book away.

Kakashi examined the bird and narrowed his visible eye. He looked at Naruto and looked up at the tree. Sensing something, Kakashi pulled out a kunai.

"Come out!" Kakashi demanded.

No one came out. Naruto cast the bird, a crested ibis, towards the tree line of the clearing. The clearing was a rough square about a fourth of a mile on each side. On the northwestern side were a lake and a tree where Sasuke was struggling to stand. On the opposite side of the clearing just within view of the lake's edge was a house where the three of them were to stay for a year. Sasuke activated his Sharingan but didn't see anyone there. Was there something wrong with Kakashi too? Sasuke frowned. No, Kakashi was a Jounin. There was something very, very wrong. As to what it was, Sasuke wasn't sure.

"I know everything about you so you might as well come out!" Naruto commanded. The bird disappeared in a puff of smoke. Naruto narrowed his eyes. _A summon…_

Something flickered in the shadows of the trees. Another few seconds passed and nothing came out. Naruto sighed.

"Tou-chan would be disappointed," Naruto said, crossing his arms with a disappointed expression. _Finally!_

Naruto found himself in a chokehold staring into blazing red eyes. He smirked even though his face was turning blue. He was dropped to the ground and a knee made contact with his stomach. Naruto coughed up blood and gave a cocky smile to the figure standing before him.

"So this is what Kaa-chan would've looked like, except the red eyes," Naruto said, wiping blood from his mouth, as he lay on his back unable to move due to immense pain. But he hid it well.

"Go on, take off your hat. I want to see your hair. Come on, it's my birthday. Consider it a birthday present from me to you," Naruto said, his eyes pleading.

Nothing happened. Naruto managed to get to his feet and prepared another remark to hopefully rile up the cloaked figure. Upon closer examination, the figure was a female despite not showing her face.

Instead, two chakra signatures disappeared from the tree line. The one standing before Naruto was a clone, judging from the fact it dispersed into a puff of smoke.

"I thought family were supposed to care and give presents!" Naruto huffed.

"Kakashi-sensei, what's Naruto talking about?" Sasuke asked Kakashi. Sasuke was almost frightened; Naruto had acted like an idiot but now…now he seemed as if he let a bit of _genius_ out. Sasuke didn't know what to think. Were Naruto's acting skills good enough to do this and break his mind as he'd said back in Konoha or was this for real?

Sasuke knew that the likelihood of it being for real were getting more and more probable by the second and more confusion flooded his brain. Who was that? What was Naruto talking about? Why didn't Kakashi intervene? Did Kakashi not see the figure as a threat? No, that would be stupid; the figure landed a rather nasty blow on Naruto. Was Naruto simply allowing himself to take the hit or was he still an idiot who couldn't dodge?

"Naruto, that was reckless! You engaged a mentally unstable nuke-nin! What if you had gotten killed? Don't you know she could've easily taken more than just your eye, like last time?!" Kakashi grabbed Naruto, not caring about the fact Naruto probably had a broken rib, or at least a large bruise. Naruto gave another creepy smile, a smile that said, 'I know so, so much more than you know.' Kakashi put away his kunai and shook Naruto again to elicit a response.

"I wouldn't have. She doesn't have the heart to hurt me," Naruto replied smoothly. Kakashi was in denial.

"That's a ridiculous assumption! That was the enemy! What proof do you have that a random nuke-nin _won't_ hurt you?" Kakashi demanded, his eye glaring with anger and disbelief at the insubordination and recklessness that his sensei's son was exemplifying.

"She's not random. That's my sister," Naruto replied, as if it were obvious. "You knew that from the day I was born. Which today marks the eighth year you knew."

"That nuke-nin has no correlation to you at all. You're making up ridiculous excuses for your recklessness. Get inside the house and clean yourself up," Kakashi growled. He let Naruto go and turned to Sasuke, who was deathly pale. Sasuke was barely keeping up with what Naruto was saying but somehow, everything seemed to fit.

"Was that Sayuri? I knew that she wasn't my real sister and I knew she was the Yondaime Hokage's daughter but… how does Naruto know? Why was Naruto acting as if he knew her parents? Sayuri's parents died the day the Kyuubi attacked. Why did he say that she was his sister? Is it true? Why is Naruto acting so strange all of a sudden?!" Sasuke demanded, fear making his voice tremble. Kakashi looked at him with an unreadable expression.

Kakashi had just heard Naruto spew out dangerous secrets that were village secrets even though they were veiled in implications. Sasuke was smart and since Naruto had just uttered secrets and Sayuri physically confirmed them, the truth couldn't be held back from Sasuke for long. Kakashi saw that it was either now or have Sasuke find out in an accident or another dangerous encounter with nuke-nin. At least now he could protect them. Kakashi sighed and took a deep breath and knelt to Sasuke's height.

"Sasuke, I could lie to you right now but I won't. Just promise you won't tell anyone. Seeing how you're going to be with Naruto and I for the next year, I think I should tell you. On October 10th, the Yondaime Hokage and his wife, Uzumaki Kushina, died and left Sayuri and Naruto behind. That day was also the day Naruto was born and the day the Kyuubi attacked. And, the Kyuubi is sealed into Naruto. So, yes, they are truly brother and sister. The Yondaime Hokage was very dangerous during the Third Shinobi World War and he made a name for himself, the Yellow Flash. Even his name is dangerous and if people were to find out that Minato had sealed the Kyuubi, a chakra monster that could be used for war, into his son, people might want to kill the boy in his father's place and then get the Kyuubi to attack Konoha, again, with. Do you understand why Naruto, hell, the whole village, isn't supposed to know?" Kakashi asked.

Sasuke frowned for a moment, mulling it over. A minute passed and realization was evident on his face. "So…Naruto holds the Kyuubi his father sealed into him. And Sayuri is his brother. And Sayuri couldn't be with him even though she was his sister because people holding a grudge against the Yondaime might want to kill him and get the Kyuubi. Kakashi-sensei, how did Sayuri put up with all the grief? I would've thought she would be blaming herself…" Sasuke mumbled.

"She did. And when she threw paint on Naruto a year ago I suppose she must've snapped and either purposefully or accidently taken it out on him. Since then, she's become more and more dangerous. I know you believe that she's innocent regarding the Uchiha Massacre, but you must understand you must see her as the enemy. You can't let feelings from the past cloud your mind. If she approaches again, she is the enemy. She will kill you. Do you understand?" Kakashi asked.

Sasuke nodded mutely. The two walked back to the house in silence. Sasuke knew Naruto was special, but now he knew why: the Kyuubi. He supposed the strange whisker marks gave it away but it might've been a tattoo. The other thing that was bothering Sasuke was that why had Naruto acted stupid in Konoha and then when Sayuri shows up he acts as if he knew what he was talking about and… not stupid. He knew where to prod to elicit a response from Sayuri. Sasuke was very disturbed by this.

"Naruto!" Kakashi cried out, as Naruto was lying on the floor lifelessly. He picked the boy up and thankfully felt a pulse. He shook the boy again and saw that he wasn't responding. There wasn't a way Naruto would be sleeping this early so…genjutsu.

Kakashi sent a small amount of chakra into Naruto's body to dispel the genjutsu but it wasn't working. He applied more and after using up a good amount of his chakra, the boy came to and to Kakashi's shock, the boy began to cry.

When he noticed Sasuke was there, he roughly wiped away his tears and scowled a little. Kakashi stood and left the two of them alone. Sounds of crisp vegetables being cut helped little to cut into the silence that made the atmosphere in the house lighten.

"Who put the genjutsu on you? What did you see?" Sasuke asked, being a veteran of horrible genjutsu. Naruto looked at his feet and didn't respond after a few minutes.

"Sayuri did. I don't want to talk about it," Naruto said softly, closing his eyes to try to escape, but the images of the seemingly endless genjutsu played over and over. Sasuke didn't object.

Naruto looked away and busied himself with setting the table. Sasuke watched and couldn't help but wonder where his skill and knowledge had randomly come from. It certainly wasn't Kakashi; they'd only been with him for a month and the two trained together so what Sasuke knew Naruto knew. Except, Naruto knew more. Much more. Sasuke wanted to know just how much.

* * *

Orochimaru looked up to see his student's daughter running down the hall. She blew past him, not caring that he wasn't in his cloak and he was in regular clothes. He knew she noticed but something must've been more important than to even spare a glance. With that, Orochimaru took off, leaving the Akatsuki.

Sayuri turned a corner and slammed into Deidara. Her back hit the floor and the wind was knocked out of her. She struggled to stand and noticed he was staring at her. She noticed something wrong immediately: he was too close and getting closer by the second.

A wave of killer aura hit the blonde and he stood and took a few steps away. Sayuri was whisked into the room and finally managed to wheeze and cough to her heart's content. She blinked and saw she was in the dark. Her eyes adjusted and she saw the bare outlines of another person.

"Sayuri, what happened?" Itachi asked.

"When I was gathering information about the Kyuubi, he claimed he knew about my parents. I don't think Sasuke knows about you, but if Naruto knows about me I think they both might be in danger. Who do you think told Naruto?" Sayuri asked, worry lacing her voice.

"We can't speculate from here. We have to go to Konoha and tell Hokage-sama. I think the most drastic measure he'll have to take is wiping his memory. It's dangerous to leave them with that information. Still, whoever told them is a danger and I don't want to find out what know next," Itachi said.

Sayuri nodded. She leaned against the wall and couldn't begin to think about who knew. There were lots of people who knew who her parents were but few who would make the connection between the two. Whoever it was good at finding valuable information and that was serious.

"What did Deidara do just now?" Itachi asked. Sayuri looked up and suppressed the urge to wring her hands.

"I was coming to your room to tell you this and I slammed into him and then the wind gets knocked out of me and I can't breathe and then he's getting closer and closer…" Sayuri said, trailing off.

"You mean…" Itachi paused. "Like this?"

Sayuri saw his glowing red eyes suddenly so close to her own grey ones and the only thing she could hear was her heartbeat.

"I-Itachi," Sayuri said. Itachi backed off and Sayuri looked at her feet, or at least where they would be since she couldn't see because it was dark. Itachi went back to reading something and simply disregarded Sayuri's existence. Sayuri sighed and muttered something under her breath and Itachi didn't quite catch. He wanted to ask what she'd said but she was closing the door and leaving. Itachi frowned and didn't stop her.

**A/N Sorry it's short but I'm busy…XD**

** I'll try to update tomorrow!**


	8. Itachi

Summary: On October 10th, Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina died, leaving behind two children. Sixteen years later, when Minato is revived, he's in for quite a shock. For starters, one of his children is an Akatsuki member and the other is a happy-go-lucky idiot. Note: Yondaime bashing and OC Warning.

* * *

**A/N One of these days I'll write a good fic…just not today. I don't give a crap anymore so I'll apologize now. You all can hate me for being so impatient but as I said before, I'll try harder next time. After all, they do say, 'Try, try again.'  
****Anyway, read on! Review if you like, even if it's '**_**constructive criticism'.**_

**Which, by all this, I mean FUCK IT.**

…

_Uzumaki Naruto_

_Gender: Male_

_Age: 16_

_Features: Blonde hair, one blue eye, one black eye, whiskers (3) on cheeks, bright orange jumpsuit_

_Notable skills: Evasion and Ninjutsu_

_Status: Alive_

_Occupation: Shinobi/ Jinchuuriki of Kyuubi_

_Family: Namikaze Minato (deceased) Uzumaki Kushina (deceased) Namikaze Sayuri (unknown)_

_Notes/Miscellaneous: Lost left eye in altercation at age 7; large amounts of chakra; despite Namikaze relatives he is appearing to be of a low IQ_

Tsunade tapped her fingers on the table as she read over Naruto's file. She was briefly told that Naruto had lost his eye to Sayuri attacking him and the only thread she could find that indicated what jutsu Sayuri had used was a slip of paper Hiruzen had written on three years ago. She supposed, it was in Sayuri's handwriting. Neat kanji and kana but if you looked closely, you could see the way it shook.

Tsunade sighed. She pushed herself in her chair to look out at the village. It was December and snow had yet to fall. However, that didn't make the skies grey and the wind chilly. She was bored; paperwork hadn't exactly been all that interesting. She stood and walked out of her office, not wanting to do much.

Tsunade walked through the village and another cold blast of wind made her hair whip to one side. She shut her eyes and raised a hand to shield her eyes so she could open without them without worrying about dust or other irritating particles. She wished that everything was good again with Jiraiya, Minato, Kushina, the Uchiha, and countless other people still alive or still walking among the Konoha ranks, including Orochimaru and for the village's sake, Sasuke.

As the wind subsided, Tsunade began to think about other matters. The group 'Akatsuki' had once been ten members but now their numbers had dwindled severely. Tsunade pursed her lips as she found an izakaya, a kind of bar that also served food. She was greeted warmly and began to relax as sake went down her throat and grilled eel over rice came.

The Akatsuki's members were still highly dangerous. Of course, the immortal ones, Hidan and Kakuzu and Sasori were dead. Those at least didn't have kekkei genkai that could kill in an instant. Well, perhaps Sasori did but the sand has to touch you to kill you and you'd hopefully notice that the ground wasn't stable or there's a sudden shadow. The ones that were left, at least the ones of note, were the Sharingan bearers, a blonde from Iwa, and a plant. She had a nagging feeling there were more. Mainly because when you find one, there's a swarm.

Tsunade shivered; she never liked bugs.

As her muscles began to relax and feel warm, she thought more about those two. Before Kushina died, she'd sent a message that Itachi and Sayuri were engaged. When Tsunade had come, she found Kushina in a pool of blood and her daughter clutching her eyes and a screaming baby with a seal on his stomach and Minato dead. It was a mess, far from what she'd been expecting; she was expecting Kushina and Mikoto her to drink to it and do other female stuff and talk about future grandchildren.

A sigh escaped her lips and wondered, like all who knew of Itachi and Sayuri before they murdered two of Konoha's strongest clans, what had gone wrong. Orochimaru and Sasuke were the same, but Sasuke to her was a stuck-up prick even worse than Orochimaru had been.

And now, Jiraiya had left on a reconnaissance mission and she was having a bad feeling about it. Overall, she was having a bad feeling about everything. First was the sudden want for social people, and then the Akatsuki, and then Jiraiya.

She poured another cup and let the sake numb her mind. Everyone said that getting drunk was bad and she needed to stop but honestly, as Hokage and Sannin she had a heavy burden on her shoulders and the alcohol was the closest thing she had to a best friend besides Shizune. Also, it didn't make scold her for drinking or gambling or tricking the taxpayers…or whatever those guys were called. The ones who asked for their money back and always fell for the leaves she turned into 'money'.

After getting considerably drunk and full, Tsunade said for the waitress to put it on the Hokage's tab and stumbled out. The waitress tried to call her back saying how she was the Hokage but Tsunade was gone.

Tsunade snickered for a moment before her smile fell and she looked at the moon. It was a clear night even though the daytime clouds had threatened rain. A feeling of pure foreboding took over and Tsunade cursed under her breath. She supposed alcohol's drawback was that it either made all the bad thoughts go away or it shoved them in her face. Her paranoia and earlier sober social thoughts hadn't helped either.

* * *

Blood ran down the corners of his mouth. Burns riddled his right arm and a distant look shone in his eyes. Red flames around him vanished after a few seconds and it began to be difficult to focus. His vision was fading and each step was a stagger. He almost fell on his face numerous times but managed to stay upright by sheer will.

On the outside, he wasn't looking so good. Dirt, scrapes, blood, and fatigue marred his usual flawless complexion. His hair was clumping from dried blood and sickness was beginning to be obvious as another wet cough of blood came. He made no attempt at catching the blood in his hand again; his hand was already red with previous times he'd tried to catch the blood.

In front of him, it seemed history was repeating itself. Just seven years ago, the same person he'd gladly die for shook and feared for his life before a murderer. A murderer he'd looked up to as a role model and a dear sibling. His knees shook as the blood-soaked man came towards him with unbalanced steps. He was out of chakra and pressed up against a wall; there was no running. He closed his eyes; this was the end. He'd worked so hard, betrayed his village and friends, and sacrificed so much to kill the man that would win this fatal battle.

Two fingers, outstretched like kunai to a throat, came towards him and even though his heart had given up, his mind was running a mile a minute and his knees still shook and suddenly stopped as if holding their breath in shock as the bloody man's fingers poked his forehead.

And it was over. With words Sasuke didn't hear, Itachi fell after leaving a trail of blood down his brother's face and dying with a smile on his face. Not that Sasuke noticed. The one thing he noticed was the skies poured their hearts and tears out and rain fell, hard. Sasuke closed his eyes, not in resignation, but in relief.

It was over. Truly. The one who had haunted his nightmares and kept him training for just one more second, minute, hour and day with Orochimaru. Everyone who stood in his way were gone; Hiruzen, Orochimaru, and Itachi.

Chakra exhaustion took over and he was out of it before he hit the ground. Rain pelted his skin and washed away the blood from his face and dirt and scrapes from Itachi's. Blood was washed away to reveal a gold band around a hand, as Itachi's body lay lifeless. Sasuke was too unconscious to have ever taken note.

* * *

"What?" a female voice pierced his ears. Before, his ears rang. His mind screamed _Lies!_ Bound, bandaged, and unbelieving. But, it had to be true. More ringing. Sasuke shut his eyes for a moment and pinched himself. It was reality. Once more, he was trapped in a hellish reality. No, it wasn't hell_ish_. It was _hell_. That's all it.

Tobi, Madara, No-name, Akatsuki member, whatever he was called, Sasuke detested him for ripping another hole of hell in his life. To find out Itachi had sacrificed so much and cast away everything and walked the earth as a hated criminal that would never again receive a kindness was horrifying.

It was Hiruzen's fault. It was Danzo's fault. It was the Coucil's fault. Those old wrinkly sacks of nothing but what they called 'wisdom'. No, it wasn't wisdom. It was selfishness and fake words. They easily cast Itachi's wants as if he were garbage and whether or not it was Itachi's doing or an order from the Coucil, which Sasuke couldn't begin to understand why his brother bothered to listen to war-torn bags, to throw away his one chance at being happy. Whether it was Itachi's doing to ruin his own life at the cost of the village's sake, for Sasuke's sake, or it was an order from the Coucil to ruin his life, Sasuke didn't care. Those damned wrinkly caught-in-the-past Coucil members were going to finally pay, even if Itachi was too passive, or a more fitting word, _dead_, to do it himself. Sasuke loved his brother and to find out that after his brother had ripped up both of their once happy lives to shreds still loved him and did all he did out of love, was angering. And it was the Council's fault!

Sasuke could already see the pools of blood around their bodies, nothing but skin and bones and halfway-in-the-grave notions that they _shouldn't_ die and it wasn't _fair_. Itachi's life had been the epitome of _not_ _fair _so where's the fairness in letting them off of they were being unfair to the one who saved the village a lot of shinobi and a lot of lives?  
Sasuke opened his eyes to see a red, floating apparition. Killer intent was practically tangible but Sasuke was too angry and exhausted still to really shake in fear. He blinked again; it was hard to see with strained eyes and a single dim candle.

"Before you decide to kill me, let's hear what Sasuke has to say," Madara suggested.

An endless list of possible curses and threats filled her mind, but she kept her mouth shut as she turned to see Sasuke. The Sasuke she knew to be smart and talented and always smiling and never knowing pain. Now, the one who sat there was lethargic but had pent up rage still lurking behind those cold black eyes.

"Sasuke," she breathed. Pain washed over her and she couldn't begin to speak; if Sasuke knew the truth…who knows what he'd do. Sayuri knew Itachi wanted him to return to Konoha but seeing how things were changed so drastically and Itachi had never predicted this, Sayuri couldn't begin to form a vague guess as to what Sasuke would do.

"Nee-chan. It's true, isn't it? Nii-san…the coup…his lies," Sasuke asked. Sayuri raised a hand to run it through her hair as she tried to think up a proper response. Something glinted as she did this and Sasuke was suddenly intrigued.

"Hold out your hands," Sasuke said. Sayuri complied and saw how Sasuke's eyes widened at the plain gold band that adorned one finger. Sayuri shoved her hands in her pockets and looked at Sasuke with an unreadable expression. Sasuke looked at her with an almost pleading look with so many questions in his mind just wanting to be answered at once.

"Sasuke, Itachi would've wanted you to return to Konoha," Sayuri said quietly. Sasuke gritted his teeth.

"He's not here anymore! He's dead! All because of that Council! Did they order you too, to kill the Hyuuga?" Sasuke demanded as he broke out of his restraints and slipped on his shirt and zipped it up.

"No. There wasn't time. I was stupid; I should've told them. I acted on my own hoping the truth would die with the Coucil, me, and Itachi, but it seems there was always a shadow, lurking," Sayuri glared murderously at Madara, who simply shrugged.

Once Sasuke, Sayuri, and Madara got out of the cave, they stood on a rocky shore and Sasuke finally let his tears for his brother flow. In the almost crunch-like sound of thousands of bones being snapped the water crashed onto the rocks, concealing Sasuke's cries.

"I'm going to destroy Konoha," Sasuke decided as his tears dried up. Sayuri was going to speak out but if he managed take out Itachi and go so far as destroy the village his brother sacrificed himself to protect, then who was she to speak out?

"Pein and Konan are going to Konoha to look for the jinchuuriki. Meanwhile, the Kage are having a summit to discuss the threat we pose. I think you should wait until Pein captures the Kyuubi before you begin to take out Danzo and the Council," Madara said. Sasuke nodded mutely. Madara disappeared into his eye and the two Sharingan bearers were left alone.

"That ring…" Sasuke stared at it. Sayuri nodded.

"That's right. I'm twenty-one. Today's…my birthday," Sayuri said, her eyes becoming void. "This…this was Itachi's last gift to me. I'm sure he was wearing his during your fight, right?"

Sasuke didn't know. He suddenly felt terrible for not noticing. How could he have missed that? He bit his lip and the two walked away to find an inn.

* * *

Sasuke took a sip of sake. To be honest, the sake in his apartment three years ago was something he had no idea why he had. So, this was his first time with sake. It was sharp but it was somehow soothing. He glanced at Sayuri and saw she'd downed a whole bottle but she still looked cold.

"Do you have any birthday celebration things? It's my birthday. Oh, and another bottle of sake," Sayuri ordered.

"You over the drinking age, little lady?" the bartender asked as he polished a few strange glass cups.

"What color are my eyes?" Sayuri asked. Her hood shadowed her eyes and the bartender leaned closer to see better. Once he was close enough, her eyes turned bloody red and he nodded almost drowsily and gave her the only pastry they had, koshi-an pan, a bread filled with smooth sweet red bean paste. She ate it quickly and downed it with another bottle of sake.

"I'm so glad that Uchiha Itachi is finally dead. Who took him down?" one Konoha shinobi asked from a table behind them. There were four of them by the looks of it and apart from Sasuke and Sayuri, they were the only ninja where.

Sasuke began to shake in anger. Sayuri also felt angry and she could feel her Uzumaki blood begin to boil. The Uzumaki were famous fuuinjutsu masters, but they also had a fiery temper. Her red hair only showed that her Uzumaki blood was much stronger than her Namikaze blood.

"I heard it was the other Uchiha, Uchiha Sasuke," another replied.

"Ne, what do you think happened to the Yondaime-sama's daughter, Namikaze Sayuri? Do you think Sasuke killed her too?" another Konoha shinobi hummed as he took a swig of sake.

Sasuke and Sayuri threw off their cloaks and their eyes shone with the blazing red of the Sharingan. The Konoha shinobi froze. They felt pure killer intent radiating off the two Sharingan bearers in waves and they somehow knew they'd die right then and there.

"Have you four…" Sayuri started, her voice surprisingly calm despite her anger and the amount of sake she drank. "Ever harmed Uzumaki Naruto? Answer me truthfully and I'll let you in on a little secret before you go to hell."

"P-please forgive me!" the four of them pleaded. "We were just following what Mizuki said before he got in prison!"

"Oh…I see," Sayuri said. "I'll let Sasuke deal with you for trash-talking my husband. As for my secret, should Uzumaki Naruto's parents have survived the Kyuubi attack, his name would've been Namikaze Naruto. I'll let you connect the dots."

The Konoha shinobi were confused. She'd just implied…two things. One being that Itachi was her…husband? And Naruto, the demon, was her brother? That would mean the Yondaime sealed it in his son!

"Yondaime-sama sealed the Kyuubi in his own son!" a Konoha shinobi realized. "And you're married to Uchiha Itachi? We thought he was joking sixteen years ago! You were actually engaged!"

"Hey, shut up Shingae!" another whacked him upside the head.

"Minato was a ruthless man. He was a bastard and deserved his death. How do you think I have the Sharingan? I'll let you ponder that in the afterlife," Sayuri said as she flicked her wrist and Sasuke murdered them. Sayuri noticed that there were witnesses and looked like deer caught in headlights, frightened that internationally wanted criminals were so close and were splattered with blood. Sayuri sighed and allowed chakra chains to catch all of them and easily killed the other twenty witnesses. The bartenders as well were lying in a pool of their own blood and Sayuri thought that leaving the sake was a waste so she grabbed a few bottles and headed out with Sasuke to wherever they were headed to next.

**A/N Did you read the top? If you didn't it would be preferable to read it. Meh, I bet there are better and worse fics out there and that's what makes me feel a little better! However, it's hard to get my spirits down because I got a haircut for the first time in like, three years. **

**(I used to be all jealous of my Japanese friend because I could run my fingers through her hair and there would be NO tangles! Sigh…But now, I can do the same thing even though I'm only half Asian! Hehe~)**


	9. Son

Summary: On October 10th, Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina died, leaving behind two children. Sixteen years later, when Minato is revived, he's in for quite a shock. For starters, one of his children is an Akatsuki member and the other is a happy-go-lucky idiot. Note: Yondaime bashing and OC Warning.

* * *

A green glow surrounded the body. Blood began to pump. Nerves began to fire. Cells were being grown. Air was rushing into the body. Chakra began to meander its way around chakra coils. Organs began to desire everything—food, energy, warmth, and nutrients. They cried out to the brain, which interpreted it as simply a _want_. Craving took over and without another moment to lose, the body tried to get up and walk.

Wrong move.

Bones were brittle. Muscles were almost nonexistent. Fat was unheard of. Pain echoed in the mind and fear began to take over. Adrenaline was rushing through veins that had not seen cells, plasma, chakra, or anything for a long, long time.

It was enough. Hearing was just coming back and voices echoed as the body fell into unconsciousness. The body felt hands pick up limbs and then silence and darkness overcame the mind.

When light and hearing came back once more, the first color was a mixture between grey, green, and light blue. It was a rather plain color. It was a simple color. It was soothing because it wasn't a bright orange or deep red that would've unconsciously raised questions.

Oh, questions. Those were beginning to flood. Emotions as well. Before the mind could even begin to make words to ask if anyone could answer them, regret was overpowering. It was similar to drowning; that was all that the brain could think of. And living and trying to breathe. That was also a key one, but the fact drowning was a problem was very hard to ignore.

But it wasn't like the body was drowning. Thirst and hunger were strong, almost stronger than the regret that caused tears to come. Someone muttered a soft, 'Don't cry', but it was too much. Where was anyone? The eyes could barely move without causing pain to muscles and tissue. The neck was a whole other level of pain.

Speaking. That was a priority. If the body was going to get anything, asking for water or food was a must.

"Wa…" the voice croaked. Someone waited patiently. Or maybe it was all an illusion and there was no one there at all…

"…ter…" the voice was exhausted by that one command. The sound of shuffling was a godsend in itself. Someone said they'd get it.

In the meantime, the body was focusing on gathering energy, even a tiny bit. That was pathetic! Just one word, a simple one, was enough to tire the body out. If one word was hard, then what about all the questions? They only seemed to multiply by the passing seconds. Fear began to take hold once more.

A few agonizing minutes passed and water was carefully poured in small amounts. The throat was dry, unspeakably. However, with the moistening with water after finishing it, the body was feeling so much better. Confidence surged through the mind and a smile graced the lips and it didn't even hurt. More confidence.

The body, rejuvenated but nowhere near 100%, was now able to speak a bit and move very limitedly. Standing was probably the limit and walking, much less running, was out of the question.

The neck turned and saw silver hair, a Jounin vest, fair skin, and one eye covered up. The two stared for a long time before the Jounin uttered a few words.

"S-sensei…" the Jounin said.

"Kakashi," a kind smile. Then realization and questions came back, now more ferocious than ever due to the now ability to simply ask away since the throat wasn't dry.

"Where is Kushina and Naruto?" the man asked. Kakashi looked at the blonde man for a moment, deliberating. The man finally noticed how…mature Kakashi looked. _How long have I been dead for?_

"Kushina-san is dead. She died two hours after you. Naruto is helping find survivors of the disaster," Kakashi replied. He thought about explaining the disaster when another horrifying realization came to him. Minato had _two_ children. Was he that disinterested in Sayuri? She was probably still more skilled than Naruto seeing how she had all the family's fuuinjutsu.

Minato gasped, horror on his face. "Sayuri! Where is she? I need to tell her I'm sorry!"

Kakashi looked at Minato with a strange look, one that Minato couldn't read. Kakashi seemed to know something and with the passing seconds, Minato was hoping that she wasn't dead. Minato refused to believe that. In the few hours he'd started to be a part of the living again, he'd realized what a terrible parent he'd been. All Sayuri had done was work hard and try to make him proud but he cast her aside and if she was dead…Minato didn't want to imagine.

"Minato-sensei, you've missed a lot in your absence. I think you should know a few things before you start to walk about. Please, don't use any of your jutsu yet. I can only speculate that you've been revived like many of the shinobi and villagers but if you're really back, then you shouldn't use your jutsu yet. Not only because your sudden reappearance may cause a war, but because your chakra coils are still mending," Kakashi said.

Minato nodded, a sheepish smile playing out on his face for a moment before it faded into seriousness. Kakashi took a deep breath, wondering where to begin.

"After Naruto was born, he was in the orphanage until he was five. He lived in his own apartment and given a monthly allowance by the Hokage, Sarutobi-sama. After you died, Sayuri lived with the Uchiha. When she was 12, things took a drastic change for the worse. Uchiha Itachi slaughtered his clan and Sayuri slaughtered all the adult members of the Branch House of the Hyuuga Clan. That day as well, Naruto lost his left eye to an attack by her. It was replaced with an Uchiha eye but despite the fact it was an Uchiha eye, he couldn't use the Sharingan. We'd tried to train him a lot but it didn't work," Kakashi took a breath.

Minato reached for water and sipped it slowly.

"When he was twelve, Saidaime-sama died and an organization collecting Bijuu came out of the shadows. For his protection, Jiraiya-sama had traveled and trained him for three years. Recently, word is that Jiraiya-sama died to try to stop their strongest member who possessed the Rinnegan. Then, rumors are swirling that Uchiha Sasuke, the sole survivor of the Uchiha Massacre, killed Uchiha Itachi. We're not sure where Sayuri is at the moment. Now, the organization that Itachi and Sayuri were part of used to have ten members but now, there are only a few. Sayuri is still one of them and odds are, she's sticking close to Sasuke. After all, she spent eight years living with him and watching Sasuke grow up instead of Naruto. I'm sure you understand your reputation and what that meant for Naruto, the jinchuuriki; that's why he's 'Uzumaki'," Kakashi said. "And here we are. The one possessing the Rinnegan was the one who destroyed the village and Naruto managed to take down. He's turned into a fine shinobi."

Minato gave a wry smile. He wished Sayuri were here. Then he wouldn't feel so detached.

"Kakashi, what does Sayuri think of me?" Minato asked.

"To put it simply, she hates you. Whenever you're mentioned, she talks about how much she hates you and wants to kill you. She's harboring a lot of anger but that doesn't make her less dangerous. If she approaches, you must see her as the enemy because she will use your emotions against you and come to with the intent to kill you. I'm not so sure what you're going to apologize about but you've got to forget it; she's not going to listen. Once she hears you're here, she's probably going to come," Kakashi said.

Minato's face fell. It didn't just have its nervous cringe disappear, it went past that and tears formed in his eyes and sobs racked the man's body. Kakashi was never good with comforting people but he made it seem like he knew what he was doing; he embraced Minato somewhat gingerly and allowed the man to cry on his shoulder.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei…" a voice called. Minato turned and saw the tent's flap move and a person walk in. His eyes were too watery and as a result, blurry, to see whom it really was. He wiped away the tears from his eyes and frowned.

"Tou-chan…" the blonde mumbled. Minato thought he saw a smirk on his face but it vanished into a gape. "How…"

"Naruto, you saved all the village's lives. I'm going to bet that your father was also revived so that's why he's back among the living. He just 'woke up' I suppose, so he can't really walk around. His muscles and bones haven't been used in sixteen years. So please, go easy on him," Kakashi warned.

Naruto didn't seem to have heard and consequently threw himself at the older blonde. Minato looked pale from the amount of pain it must've caused but he managed to pat Naruto's back gently. Kakashi sighed and pried Naruto off.

"I knew Sayuri looked like Kaa-chan but I didn't expect us to look so similar. I guess the ones who get to make a name for themselves and protect Konoha are going to look similar while the ones who were useless look the same too," Naruto said.

Minato frowned. "What're you implying?"

"I'm implying that us, you and me, protected Konoha and are famous for it look similar. Sayuri and Kaa-chan didn't really do much in 'protecting', so they look the same. I mean, Sayuri was the one who murdered the Hyuuga and Kaa-chan, as Sayuri said, was dragged by down with you so doesn't that imply that she wasn't able to help and therefore useless," Naruto explained.

"The Sayuri I knew wouldn't kill an important clan for a reason. Both her and Itachi thought before they did anything and weighed the options before making a choice. Something terrible was going to happen and those two…I just can't wrap my head around Sayuri doing that. And without a reason," Minato said. "Naruto, your mother helped tremendously; she kept the Kyuubi at bay all her life and if that man hadn't shown up that night, the Kyuubi wouldn't have been on a rampage. Then, when we had to reseal the Kyuubi, she used her chakra chains to hold it back and put a seal around the perimeter to make sure the Kyuubi wouldn't escape. The only regrets I have are leaving you and Sayuri and not being able to stop her from watching us die."

"You want her here, don't you? I trust Kakashi-sensei has told you what would happen if she found out you where here. I bet you're regretting dying and making sure she didn't turn into a murderer. Well, that's the past and she's got to atone for her sins. Nothing you can do but watch. Trust me, great minds think alike," Naruto said.

Minato bit his lip and sighed. He didn't want to believe his son and Kakashi, but whose word was better? If these were lies, Minato should be able to go up to Sayuri and ask. But if all this were the truth, Minato had to at least heed some of the words. It made him tremendously sad that his lovely daughter was soaked in blood and part of an organization collecting Bijuu and had even gone after Naruto. Perhaps…perhaps Sayuri didn't care anymore?

"I can tell you don't want to believe us but I'll tell you how I lost my eye," Naruto said as he sat down and had one leg straight and one bent and leaned his arm and head on the bent leg. He blew out air and hummed a little before started.

"I was planning a prank on her as she was going to the Hyuuga compound. She was either too occupied in her thoughts to hear me or I was just that good at keeping myself hidden. When the prank was about to launch, she acted on impulse and lightning and some other thing came at me. I didn't have time to block or dodge and it got my eye. You see, Sayuri is nothing but a former shell of what you think she was. Now, she's a killer and nothing will stand in her way of whatever she's still trying to accomplish," Naruto sighed.

Minato felt more sobs coming but he held it in. He'd seen Naruto's mismatched eyes and wondered and the fact that _Sayuri _did this was unspeakable. It was horrible…and it was true. He had evidence right in front of him and there was no denying it.

"Sayuri-chan isn't going to like this…" a voice said from the corner of the tent. All heads whipped around in horror and saw Zetsu grinning. Minato was confused.

"I see two outcomes: she's going to come here and finish Kiiroi Senko here before you get your strength back or she's going to ignore your existence for the rest of your days. She's a ball of pain and grief; Itachi died a few hours ago with a ring still on his finger," Zetsu disappeared into the ground.

"Who was that? What was that?" Minato frowned.

"That was one of the remaining members of the Akatsuki, Sayuri's organization," Kakashi said. "Sensei, I know you're persistent and you're going to want to apologize or whatever to her if you see her so, what do you want to tell her anyway?"

"N-nothing," Minato said.

"That was a warning. I have a feeling we're going to be seeing her soon," Naruto frowned. "I've got to talk with some people. I'll be back."

Kakashi stood and said the same. Minato felt nervous being unarmed and unable to use chakra for jutsu that required a lot more chakra. His chakra levels were still low and it would take at least a week for his body to be at 100% again with strong bones, muscle, and high chakra levels.

Minato closed his eyes and allowed his mind to rest a bit.

* * *

Only an hour had passed; the questions swirling in Minato's mind still wanted answers and that kept him in a limbo between wakefulness and refreshing sleep. His eyes were glassy from lack of sleep and he stifled a yawn.

"Zetsu told me you were here but I didn't imagine you to be so pathetic," something flickered in the tent. Minato's blood froze. He was stuck in a gape, his blue eyes disbelieving. A black cloak with red clouds, piercing red eyes, and deep red hair. Minato didn't think that 'soon' meant 'right then and there' but still…

"S-sayuri," Minato choked out. "I'm so sorry!"

"You had a whole six years to say that but you've missed out. Do you see the state this village in? Well, this is partly my fault and yours. If you hadn't sealed the Kyuubi into Naruto then no one would've wanted to kill him and destroy the village looking for me. And, if that man hadn't found where Kushina was giving birth to the child you gave your love to, then she wouldn't be dead. As for me, well, if I hadn't led him there then your sorry ass might still be walking," Sayuri let out a chuckle. Her red eyes faded and turned into grey ones. Her smile faded as she watched Minato realize what she was saying.

"You…you led that mastermind there? Why?" Minato asked. He was beginning to believe what Naruto and Kakashi had said but that didn't make him less apologetic.

Sayuri rolled her eyes dramatically before bursting into hysterical laughter. Something glinted on her finger as she held her stomach and laughter. Minato reached out and the laughter stopped abruptly and a harsh glare that chilled his bones was sent into his eyes.

"What's on your finger?" Minato asked.

"Your other favorite child, Itachi, gave me this," Sayuri said. "Look, my brother is waiting. I've said what I wanted to say. Now that you're back, I've got so much on my plate. Why couldn't you have stayed dead?" Sayuri grabbed his neck and squeezed hard. His lips began to turn blue and once he lost consciousness, Sayuri let go. Her hand shook and she shoved it in her pocket like a disease. She glanced at her work: a seal on his neck.

This seal was that if he used a jutsu with a lot of chakra, the seal would absorb the chakra. Eventually the seal would reach its limit and have to let go of all the chakra. In that instant, the seal would explode, along with Minato's neck. It would be a painless death, for the most part. She wanted to use a seal that would slowly kill him but she didn't want to use up her chakra; she had to use it for the Hiraishin to get back to Sasuke. _With you in Konoha I can almost trust you to protect it and I'll be able to be with Itachi in the afterlife._

* * *

The Kage Summit loomed. Danzo, of course, went. He knew Minato was somehow alive and damn that was a problem. One of his agents had heard Sayuri talk to him and according to her words; they were both on the same page. Danzo had a feeling she'd be at the Summit and then he could hopefully talk with her regarding getting rid of Minato.

The one problem was that Minato was finally back into shape. About eight days had passed and the persistent blonde was pushing himself and his chakra. He wore his haori proudly with the kanji 四代目火影 adorning the back in red (Yondaime Hokage).

Danzo was so close. Minato, the day before, had been reinstated as Hokage. Like Hiruzen, he was referred to as Yondaime-sama or Hokage-sama. Danzo wanted to murder him right then for standing in his way of becoming Hokage.

He couldn't just murder the Hokage right then. He'd be on the same level as Itachi and Sayuri, who were necessary sacrifices. He _had_ to be on the inside and be Hokage and protect the village the way it was meant to be protected and maintained and built up: with ROOT.

However, whenever he got a chance, it was always dashed and stolen from him. When Hiruzen died he was so close then as well but Tsunade had to come and then become Hokage. And then while she's in a coma, Minato is revived by Naruto or whatever had really happened (Danzo hadn't lost any agents during the attack so he didn't really care how the comeback of the villagers came about). It seemed as if Kami was truly trying to mess with him.

That aside, the Kage Summit was requesting the Hokage to come. And being that Tsunade wasn't awake and Minato was actually a sworn-in Hokage, _he_ was going instead of Danzo, despite his protests.

Minato chose Kakashi and Naruto. However, it came to his attention that both of them, along with another Jounin, were out of the village. He sighed. Shizune, a woman he vaguely recognized, handed him a list of prominent shinobi. He read them over a few times and picked Hyuuga Neji and Nara Shikamaru. They were both Naruto's age, roughly, and Minato wanted to get to know his son a little better since the people he'd normally ask were gone.

With his guards chosen, Minato and the two teens headed off with him. Both of the males were quiet and Minato could see the Nara was struggling not to complain.

"So…what is Naruto like?" Minato asked. He didn't like the way they were so quiet when his mind was so noisy with all the questions he wanted to ask.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru answered, stifling a yawn.

"He's inspiring. Sometimes he doesn't really think through what he does but he could rival me for my Jounin title if he tried," Neji chuckled.

Minato felt a surge of pride within him. Then regret. Lots and lots of it.

"Why do you ask?" Neji asked.

"I'm his father," Minato said gently.

"So that Sayuri girl…that's so troublesome," Shikamaru tsked.

"I've come to understand that shinobi tend to have different pasts than their current selves. I'd presume Itachi and Sayuri were no exception. What was she like, as a child?" Neji asked. Then he looked flustered and began to explain, "I'm sorry for being so intrusive but I think if we encounter her or Sasuke at the Kage Summit it may be wise to have a plan to attack their minds with genjutsu consisting of the past."

"It's…alright," Minato said slowly. "Sayuri was a very quiet child. I was a terrible person, I allowed Orochimaru to experiment on her when she was a toddler believing that with the power Orochimaru could grant her she could be used to protect the village. Two years later, she was sent into the War with Itachi and still didn't show any progress despite all the leniency I'd given Orochimaru with her. I'd given up on her already at that point. And, Itachi was the kind of child I wanted Sayuri to be. His father, Fugaku was more than happy to join our families, thinking that Itachi would sire children just as strong as he and I were," Minato stopped for a moment, his eyes stinging.

"So then the two of them were joined in a marriage contract. If they followed it, they would be married for three years now. Anyway, later that year, the Kyuubi attacked. It wasn't a natural appearance either; a mastermind used the Kyuubi to wreak havoc on Konoha. My wife and I died protecting Naruto, a baby just two hours old, by stopping a claw from impaling him. We were impaled in his place and it was only then did I notice that outside the barrier my wife set up that Sayuri had been there the whole time. I foolishly was grateful that it the Kyuubi attacked for an instant; her Sharingan had awoken. Orochimaru's plans had come to fruition. Then I sealed the Kyuubi into Naruto, sacrificing my life. I don't know what happened after that. Sixteen years later I wake up and I find that the daughter I had cast out from my concerns, labeling her as a failure, is walking the earth with presumably all the fuuinjutsu scrolls my wife and I owned, and the Sharingan I thought would never be. I'm sure you can imagine that regret is an understatement for me," Minato sighed. His heart ached.

"Hokage-sama, if we do encounter her at the Kage Summit, how should we counter? It seems that she's got genjutsu and fuuinjutsu on her side. The latter being somewhat of a lost art; there are very few who know any advanced fuuinjutsu or how to counter it. I'm a close-range fighter and Shikamaru is a mid-long range fighter," Neji asked.

"Sayuri was never an expert at taijutsu. If you can manage to get close to her while avoiding her Sharingan and her fuuinjutsu, then you may have a chance," Minato said.

There was a pause.

"Hokage-sama, could you stop for a moment and flare your chakra a bit?" Neji asked. Shikamaru gave him a sideways look, wondering what Neji was up to.

Minato, cocking his head, complied.

"Hokage-sama, there's a seal on your neck. I'm afraid I have no idea what it looks like, though. Could you create a clone so you can examine it?" Neji asked.

Minato tried to create a clone, only to feel his chakra being sucked up by the seal. He visibly paled after a few moments of initial shock.

"She…Sayuri…" Minato choked out.  
"What?" Shikamaru asked.

"It seems she…" Minato choked up, his voice cracking a little. "Used Forbidden Fuuinjutsu to try to kill me. This seal will absorb chakra and when it reaches its limit it will explode in an instant. The fact she placed it on my neck means that she really, really wants to kill me. I thought that she was simply trying to intimidate me but it seems that she truly wants me back in the grave."

"Damn. Do you know any seal experts to get it off you, if it's possible?" Shikamaru asked. "And, what's the limit until it explodes?"

"My sensei, Jiraiya. But, he's dead, isn't he? If Sayuri is the one who put the seal on me, she may know a way to get it off me. However, she's not going to, if she went to this length to try to kill me. As for the second question, it was up to her," Minato said.

"We've got to capture her and force her to undo the seal," Neji summed up. "That is…going to be difficult."

Minato nodded, still pale. He let out a shaky breath and brought out a chakra suppressor. He had Shikamaru apply it so that in case something were to happen and Minato's instincts kicked in to use the Hiraishin, he couldn't and therefore the seal on his neck wouldn't receive chakra. However, Minato also wouldn't get chakra and would have to rely on Neji and Shikamaru to protect him.

* * *

The air was tense. Two men older than him were glaring fiercely at the blonde. Minato could simply give a sheepish smile. Gaara was eyeing the blonde, wondering why he looked familiar and Mei was simply enjoying the view of a pretty, pretty blonde man.

"I'd like to make a request," Minato finally said. Neji and Shikamaru tensed behind the curtain.

"What, damned Kiiroi Senko?!" Raikage demanded.

"In order for me to be of help in this…campaign against the threat the Akatsuki pose, I need for one of their members to be caught _alive_," Minato eyed the two men.

"Hmph," Tsuchikage looked smug. "Who and why do you need them?"

Minato paused, his eyes getting distant for a moment. An image of Sayuri smiling as a baby flashed in his mind for a moment. He closed his eyes, his heart aching again. He opened them and answered Tsuchikage's question.

"Namikaze Sayuri. She placed a seal on me. This seal absorbs chakra. When it reaches its limit, it will release all of it. When that happens, it will explode and the problem this poses is that it is on my neck, causing my death. Now, I know most of you would like her dead but in order for the seal to come off, she is the only one who can take it off," Minato explained.

"And you can't undo the seal because that requires chakra it would simply eat up?" Gaara asked. Minato nodded.

"How did she know of the seal? Don't tell me you taught it to her before you died," Tsuchikage smirked. "Which brings up another question: how are you alive anyway?"

"Long story short, my son Naruto convinced the one who destroyed Konoha to revive the fallen shinobi. I was one of them, I suppose," Minato said. "I'd presume she took the scrolls I kept in my house and learned the jutsu."

"You mean Uzumaki Naruto?" Gaara asked. Minato nodded again.

"Hokage-dono, this is rather interesting; your daughter Sayuri is an internationally wanted criminal and your son is an internationally known hero. I'd say those two are two sides of the same coin," Mei said. Minato didn't respond. He didn't want to think about what she was implying: they were both skilled and perhaps if they fought one of them, or likely both, would end up dead. And the four Kage were hoping it would be the girl.

"Please," Minato bowed, his face parallel with the table.

Before the other Kage could respond, Zetsu appeared in the middle of the table.

"Helloo~! Namikaze Sayuri and Uchiha Sasuke are in the building! Now, where would they possibly be hiding?!" Zetsu yelled, a creepy smile plastered on. Raikage heard Sasuke's name and immediately demanded to know where he was as he choked Zetsu with a single hand. Zetsu asphyxiated before he could respond and died.

The moment Zetsu appeared the Kage guards were on the table, brandishing their weapons and holding their hands in jutsu seals.

Raikage, Gaara, Shikamaru and a few other people went out to fight. Tsuchikage was having back trouble and Minato knew he was of no help.  
"So your daughter has reduced you to nothing," Tsuchikage sneered, his face showing he was still in pain.

Minato didn't respond. He was too busy moping his mind and blaming himself for everything that was happening. It was true, what the Tsuchikage was saying. Shikamaru saw that Minato was probably agreeing with the Tsuchikage and muttered a 'troublesome'.

Meanwhile, the building rumbled with explosions and Minato slipped further and further into despair.

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke was quickly decimating the hundreds of samurai. Blood marred his face and matched his red eyes. Many fell prey to his genjutsu and Sharingan eyes with the Mangekyo. Black flames engulfed a few samurai.

Nearby, Sayuri was holding her own against the Raikage. Pure hate resonated within his eyes. Another punch threatened to cause her body to be cut in half. She noticed that the way he was fighting was a toned-down version; she'd heard of his attacks being faster then the blink of an eye. She also had the Mangekyo so seeing his movements was easy. Still, it concerned her that he wasn't trying to necessarily kill her. _He's holding back…_

She used a Kawarimi with a nearby samurai and quickly pulled out a scroll. As the samurai was pushed aside, sadly towards Sasuke, Sayuri slammed the scroll down and allowed the jutsu to do its work.

This fuuinjutsu unleashed a lot of chakra. Chakra was like wind in a sense; it didn't want to be controlled or kept in smaller spaces. That's why chakra control is harder for shinobi with a lot of chakra; it wants to get out and go its own direction and with a lot of it, it was hard to control, similar to controlling a herd of cattle versus one cattle.

This was also raw chakra. Raw chakra worked in a loose similarity with acid. If raw chakra comes in contact with a person, it could cause burns, cuts, and if it's very pressurized and highly controlled and thin enough, it could be used to make holes in an opponent. However, this required extreme chakra control and should it fail, it might kill the person attempting it.

That's why Sayuri wasn't controlling it. Raw chakra was difficult enough to control and the Raikage required a lot of focus to go up against and one couldn't divert their attention for even a moment to work on chakra control. Sayuri also hadn't explored such a delicate controlling technique; she had other deadly seals to learn, such as the one on Minato.

"I'll get you!" Raikage roared as the chakra was burning his clothes. Sand came and smothered the flames and Sayuri's eyes widened as she jumped away to Sasuke. A purple skeleton surrounded them and Sayuri narrowed her eyes, thinking about why the Raikage, someone who clearly wanted her dead, hadn't said he was going to kill her. Not once.

"Sayuri, who hurt you?" Sasuke was staring at the gash on her side. She hadn't even noticed it; adrenaline had a way of dulling pain.

"Uchiha brat!" the Raikage roared, his shirt completely burned off. Gaara's sand raced towards Sasuke's Susano'o along with Kankuro's puppets, Temari's wind, and lightning from the Raikage and Darui's technique.

"Let me handle this," Sayuri said as Sasuke panted from using the Susano'o so much tonight as it dissipated.

It had been a long time since she used this technique. Chakra chains shot out of her back and created a circle around them. The smaller it was, the more concentrated it was. If she were a full Uzumaki, then a barrier a fifth of a mile would be able to hold back a Bijuu. Her mind wavered a moment, remembering her mother. Then she remembered Minato, the asshole, was here and anger flooded her mind.

She dropped to her knees and hands, panting, her vision fuzzy from fatigue. Sasuke placed a concerned hand on her back. She could see his concern; she was the last family he had.

The chakra chains were _supposed_ to hold. They did, actually, after the attacks subsided. What she didn't expect was the Raikage taking hold of one of the chakra chains. The chakra chains were a manifestation of raw chakra. That's why it glowed. She heard a grunt of pain and fear washed over him. Why hadn't his hand burst into flames? Or been burned until his skin turned a charred black? She channeled lightning chakra down it and his eyes grew in size in pain and anger. His hand finally began to make a sizzling sound. She took out another scroll. What she released was a bright light and a huge explosion. She grabbed Sasuke and retracted her chakra chains.

She'd left a Hiraishin kunai up at the balcony and reappeared there.

"Sasuke, I know where the other Kage are. Let's go," Sayuri said. Sasuke gave a nod and followed her lead as they ran to the Summit room.

Neji returned a minute later. He had to tend to samurai and before he knew it, an explosion that shook the building and destroyed a lot of the stone inside rang out.

"Hokage-sama, they're approaching. Both of them are coming. From what I saw, Sayuri is wounded on her side. They're going to be here in 20…19…" Neji started his countdown. Minato paled and bit his lip. He unconsciously rubbed the seal on his neck and sighed.

When the countdown reached one, Sasuke was on the ceiling and Sayuri was racing towards Minato. Shikamaru's shadow possession jutsu caught her and Minato stood, fear and misunderstanding in his eyes as he stroked her cheek.

"Don't you dare touch her you shit!" Sasuke roared as he attacked Shikamaru. Neji protected Shikamaru and could barely keep up with Sasuke's attacks.

"Sayuri…do you really want to kill me? I…I'm sorry for everything I did. I thought it was for the best, for the village. I'm sorry your mother died that night and I'm sorry that you had to go through so much pain and I couldn't be there for you," Minato felt tears roll down his cheek. Tsuchikage smirked.

"Don't you dare touch me, or apologize to me. Everyone can see what lies your apologies are. You're just putting up this façade so that you can obtain whatever else you want. I don't see why; you've got a son you adore, a village that loves you, and I, the failure, am out of your life. Why can't you just be content with that? Why do you have to drag me down through the mud? You have _everything_ you want," Sayuri said.

"No, I don't. You aren't in it," Minato sobbed. "I'm not lying. I was a terrible person so please, forgive me."

"After all you've done to me, forgiveness isn't even considered. I hate you and hate the name I carry, your branding," Sayuri spat. Minato flinched.

"And, why aren't any of you trying to kill me? I'm an S-Ranked nuke-nin. Tsuchikage, you of all must want to kill anyone related to this liar. So, why haven't you made any attempt to kill me?" Sayuri glanced at the old man. He smirked.

"Minato, if you love her so much why don't you tell her?" Tsuchikage asked, loving every moment of bringing pain to the blonde man.

"Sayuri, please, take off this seal from me," Minato dropped to his knees and bowed his head. "Please."

Sayuri paused, as if contemplating his request. She sighed and looked at him.

"Tou-sama," Sayuri started. Minato looked up, in shock, hope clear on his face. "Sasuke, now!"

Just then, Sasuke kicked Neji in his head hard and stabbed Shikamaru. The shadow binding lost its grip off of Sayuri and Sayuri began to beat the crap out of Minato. Surprisingly, Minato didn't fight back. It wasn't like he could, or wanted to. Taijutsu, was an option, and it occurred to him, just as any counter to something did when his life was threatened but a scary thought occurred to him: he _wasn't_ afraid.

Once Minato was barely clinging to his new life, barely conscious, Sayuri stopped, her clothes soaked in his blood. She began to feel her chest tighten and her eyes sting but she steeled her nerves.

"If I—"

Lava, sand, and the Tsuchikage's Particle Release headed for the Sharingan pair suddenly. Sayuri grabbed Sasuke and reappeared at one of Minato's kunai on the ceiling. Unfortunately, Sayuri had been caught off guard and her chakra was nearly zero from all the things she'd done today. The Raikage's speed got her and landed a punch on her stomach, causing her to cough up a considerable amount of blood. Then, another blow. Sayuri weakly pushed Sasuke, much to his ire. Before he could move to protect her, lava came towards him. With a loud curse, he was forced to move back, away from her. Particle Release surrounded him and Sayuri's eyes widened.

"No!" Sayuri screamed despite her injuries. The Raikage picked her bloody body up. She glared harshly and gritted her teeth, her ribs aching in pain; he'd broken them and created internal and external bleeding. Her left arm was also broken and everything just _hurt_.

Tobi, err, Madara—_whatever_, saved Sasuke. He was passed out on his shoulder and Tobi declared war on the Five Nations. Minato could only weakly cry out, seeing Sayuri's beaten state. He glared at the Raikage and he simply gave a look of, 'Was there a choice?' Raikage threw her on the table and she gave a small cry.

"Sayuri," Tobi started. Sayuri moved her eyes to look at him. "I will get you later. I'm sorry to leave you here but I trust you. You're to tell me everything after that."

Sayuri's eyes widened as he disappeared. She stole another glance at Minato before darkness engulfed her.

* * *

She knew her eyes were open. That much was clear. And, everything throbbed. Her arms, her stomach, her eyes, her head. She hated the feeling and when something unbelievably loud crashed in her ears, perhaps a door, she wished she were still asleep. However, the voice she heard was enough to keep her listening.

"You did not follow the plan," Danzo chided. "Your father, even in his state, is coming to interrogate you."

"Danzo-sama…" Sayuri said. Her voice was hoarse and dry. "Are we alone?"

"Yes," Danzo said.

"The Hyuuga..." Sayuri coughed. "knew. That's why I didn't follow the plan."

Danzo paused for a moment before responding. "I see. Be careful when your father is here."

Sayuri nodded and let out another cough, unable to think straight. Her mind began to hurt more and she glanced at her body. Chakra suppressing seals covered her arms over bandages.

A few minutes later, Minato came in in a wheelchair pushed by Naruto. There was something on Minato's lap but Sayuri's eyes were fuzzy. It was very, very slowly adjusting. Naruto handed Minato what looked like a pen and paper and left. It was suspicious, but then again, whenever you're trapped in an enemy village it's going to be bad.

Ten minutes of silence passed. Sayuri's eyes had finally adjusted and anger was the only thing in her mind. The thing on Minato's lap shifted and Minato had the damned nerve to pat it. Sayuri saw the room through various shades of red, and it wasn't her Sharingan.

"We did blood tests," Minato said softly, as if not to wake the small form on his lap.

"Minato, what do you want?" Sayuri asked finally. Resignation was clear in her voice. Somehow, Minato felt guilty.

"Take this seal off me. Or…" Minato said.

"Or what, you'll use him as leverage against me? Minato, you've ruined one childhood already, don't ruin his," Sayuri said. Another cough echoed in the room and the child stirred and sat up. He looked at Minato and then at Sayuri.

"Kaa-san!" the child cried out. "What happened to you? Where are we?"

"Don't worry. We're in an underground part of Konoha. Has anyone hurt you?" Sayuri asked.

"Where's…Tou-san?" the boy asked.

"Sayuri," Minato butted in.

"Don't you interrupt him! I want you nowhere near my child. If you want your questions answered, undo these chains; I can't feel my wrists or ankles," Sayuri commanded. Minato looked like he was about to until he stopped and bit his lip.

"Kaa-san…why're you all bandaged? Where's Tou-san? Why are you here? Who is this man?" the child asked again.

"This man isn't someone you should worry about. Come here. Did anyone hurt you or glare at you or try to kill you?" Sayuri asked as the boy jumped off of Minato's lap and sat against the wall by Sayuri's kneeling form with her hands and feet bound behind her.

"Y-yeah…there was this one guy. He had a blue eye and a black one. He wanted to know who I was but I didn't tell him. He got mad and then he kicked me. It still hurts," the child said.

"Minato, do you hear that? Your beloved son has hurt mine. You want that seal off so bad? Release me and I will," Sayuri said. Minato pushed his wheelchair over to Sayuri's form and pulled off the chakra suppressing seals and undid the chains. Sayuri stayed still for a moment, her chakra warming her body up and getting rid of the numbing feeling she had. She stood and glared harshly at Minato, who simply looked away.

Sayuri went through perhaps fifty hand seals until she slammed her hand onto his neck. He yelped in pain and once the seal was off, he promptly passed out. She knelt by him and lifted his shirt to look at his stomach. She knew he had another one and it would be…problematic. She went through more hand seals and added another seal on top of his. Perhaps now he'd never be able to call upon the Kyuubi's chakra and then she wouldn't have to worry about him using it during the upcoming war.

She glanced wistfully at the child and felt guilty. His childhood as well would be marked with war.

"Kaa-san, I think you should find a shirt and pants," the child said. Sayuri glanced and saw that she was only clad in bandages covering every inch of skin. The child was still young and he was hers so she wasn't necessarily too embarrassed. However, she was glad that everything was covered and someone had clearly done the bandages right.

She opened the door and took the boy's hand. Someone was waiting outside the interrogation room and a snicker echoed. The child held close to Sayuri and Sayuri activated her Sharingan.

"You…" Sayuri started.

"Me? Oh, what did I do?" the blonde asked, a smile playing out on his face.

"That's him," the child said softly. "Kaa-san, who is he?"

"Uzumaki Naruto. Nice to meet ya," Naruto knelt at the child's level and held out a hand.

Sayuri grabbed the boy into her arms and disappeared. Naruto sighed and walked down the corridor. Sayuri reappeared at the room where they keep all the prisoner's personal items. She saw someone else's clean dark clothes and slipped them on. She looked around and saw her scrolls and kunai and grabbed those as well.

She heard someone crying out, in the distance but coming closer.

"Minato-sensei!"

"Minato-sensei! Kushina-san is…!"

Sayuri stepped out of the room, the child on her back. The man stopped and was in shock.

"What about her?" Sayuri asked.

"Namikaze Sayuri. You're supposed to be in your cell. What did you do to Minato-sensei?" Kakashi demanded.

"Oh, you're funny. Don't try anything, Hatake-san. I took off the seal," Sayuri said.

"You mean the one you tried to kill him with?" Kakashi asked.

"I'm not sure if you're aware, but that man is a liar, a fraud, and a sadist. Didn't you ever notice I was gone for two whole years? My first two years. That's because he gave me to Orochimaru so I could have these eyes. He said it was for the village's sake but look at Naruto, all he did was suffer. And yet, you want to side with the village that does nothing but ruin and hurt," Sayuri said.

"Kaa-san, what're you talking about?" the boy asked.

"Sayuri, that's your son?" Kakashi noticed the boy.

"Answer my question. What about Kushina?" Sayuri demanded.

"She's alive," Kakashi said. "If you do anything to her, all of Konoha will be after you."

"As if I'd hurt my own mother. And, Konoha was always after me," Sayuri said as she took the boy's hand and disappeared.

The two reappeared on the outskirts of the village.

Sayuri had given up on caring who saw her or not. She supposed that if Minato was in a weak state when he was revived or whatever Naruto had pulled, then Kushina was in a similar state. She heard people let out screams when they saw her, much to the boy's dismay. Sayuri kept walking until she reached Tsunade's tent. There, her mother lay, awake.

"Sayuri thank Kami you're here…I was asking for you but this nice pink-haired girl was telling me you were a nuke-nin. I couldn't possibly believe that," Kushina joked. Sayuri walked to her mother's side and knelt along with the boy.

"Oh, who is this? He's handsome," Kushina smiled.  
"Kaa-san, this girl is correct. I've been an S-Ranked nuke-nin of Konoha for the past eight years. This is Uchiha Kenshin. Before you see Minato, I need you to know something," Sayuri said. "I don't have much time."

Kushina paled and fell silent, not able to form words out of shock.

"Minato gave me to Orochimaru when I was two to give me these eyes. And before you see Naruto I need you to know he can't be trusted. Not only because he hurt my son, but because he's privy to village secrets. I'm not sure how but he may use you to get what he wants. Please, trust me," Sayuri said, sensing multiple ANBU members outside the tent, waiting to attack.

"Kaa-san, what's going on? I don't understand any of this!" the boy cried out. Sayuri held him close.

"His name…Uchiha Kenshin. That means you and Itachi followed the arrangement?" Kushina asked, another smile on her face.

Sayuri nodded and disappeared in a yellow flash.

* * *

Tobi reappeared just as Sayuri reappeared outside the village at one of the kunai. The amount the Hiraishin was taking was decreasing every time she used it but that didn't mean it was still a strain on her system to use it. He sucked her and Kenshin into his eye and spat them out where Sasuke was. Sasuke turned and examined her and the child with a worried and confused face.

"This is Uchiha Kenshin," Sayuri said. Sasuke, for once, gave a smile. Sayuri thought she'd never see him smile again.

"Who're you?" Kenshin asked Sasuke.

"I'm Uchiha Sasuke," Sasuke said.

"How come we have the same name?" Kenshin asked.

"Kenshin, this is your father's younger brother," Sayuri said.

Confusion was clear on the child's face. Sasuke saw this and left the two alone. Kenshin began to ask Sayuri numerous questions and after an hour of talking, Kenshin finally understood everything. Sayuri had no choice but to tell him the truth, including her past and the Uchiha's coup plans.

"So…that guy who hurt me is your brother? Your real one but Sasuke is just because you married Tou-san? And Tou-san…is dead?" Kenshin began to cry.

"It's okay. If you remember him then he'll be alive forever. And yes, you're correct in all your questions. Are you hungry?" Sayuri stood and carried him on her back to the Akatsuki kitchen. Konan had made it a point that the kitchen be stunning and the best. Sayuri took out some ingredients and after a few mintues, tea was brewed and takoyaki were being made. Sasuke came round and ended up helping. The child seemed subdued even though he was focused on making sure none of them burned. Sasuke ruffled the child's hair and helped turn a few that were sticking. Kenshin didn't respond. Sayuri shot Sasuke a worried look and Sasuke simply shook his head.

"Kenshin, how did you get to Konoha? I thought you were with Ritsuko," Sayuri arched a brow as she eyed the four year old.

"Someone came looking for me I guess and then Ritsuko was on the floor and there was blood everywhere. She told me to follow the path all the way down and then I found Konoha. They asked who my parents were but I didn't want to tell them that because they were scary-looking but they took my blood anyway and then that blonde one with the weird eyes demanded to know who I was and then I got scared so I tried to run but he caught me and hurt me. The next thing I know is that you're all bandaged up and that other blonde man is talking to you and you're all angry," Kenshin said quietly. "Who killed Tou-san?"

"He was sick. I guess the two of you didn't know," Sasuke supplied. "He kept coughing up blood during our battle and then he collapsed."

Kenshin didn't say anything else.

"Ne, Kaa-san. What happens after this? We can't go back to Konoha I think so…" Kenshin frowned. Sayuri felt another pang of guilt.

"Kenshin, I'm sorry," Sayuri started. "War is coming. This war is my organization fighting the world. The purpose is to get the Kyuubi. I'm sure you've read the scrolls on the Bijuu. There are nine Bijuu and we need the last one, the Kyuubi, the strongest one. The Kyuubi is sealed inside my brother. I'm not going to repeat this, but to be honest, if I was given the chance to be reintegrated into Konoha ranks, I would. That way, Kenshin, you'd be safe and I wouldn't worry."

…

**A/N Woooh! I'm such a sucker for Minato and Kushina…I know it's unrealistic but it's fanfiction hehe…*sweatdrop**

**So, I think there will be one more chapter and then maybe I'll finish this. **


	10. Nightmares

Summary: On October 10th, Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina died, leaving behind two children. Sixteen years later, when Minato is revived, he's in for quite a shock. For starters, one of his children is an Akatsuki member and the other is a happy-go-lucky idiot. Note: Yondaime bashing and OC Warning.

* * *

Itachi frowned. Why was he back, in the world of the living. He glanced to his left and right and noticed the other Akatsuki members. To his relief, Sayuri wasn't there. Then again, she might not have been 'called back' as one might put it.

Kabuto grinned and sent them off to do their work. This work involved screwing up and killing off more lives and people with an ace card: their bodies grow back. Itachi and Nagato ended up together and stopped at a lake. Itachi admired its calming effect but was plunged into battle when two jinchuuriki approached.

One was an octopus and the other was a very familiar blonde. Now, however, his body was engulfed in a glowing yellow chakra. It was like…purified Kyuubi chakra. Itachi remembered the terrible aura the Kyuubi gave off when it attacked sixteen years ago.

So this was Uzumaki Naruto. Itachi frowned as his body began to move on its own. Where was Sayuri? Or Kenshin? Or Sasuke?

He found he couldn't talk and Naruto kept rambling on and on. The topics didn't really vary but they made Itachi very, very uneasy. The topics were about him and Sayuri and Kenshin. He talked about how he knew of the Uchiha coup and Sayuri's past and Kenshin. The last one made something snap in the Uchiha. He cared for his son greatly and was saddened to die, leaving Sayuri alone, but if Sasuke was going to be ignorant of the truth, then so be it.

However, that hope was dashed as well. He said that the same guy who told him had already told Sasuke. Sasuke, as a result, was going to destroy Konoha. Sayuri, or bitch, as Naruto referred to her as, was siding with him. Itachi was livid but as an Uchiha, he was good at hiding discomfort and anger and the Edo Tensei jutsu was also suppressing emotions and speech.

Multiple curses towards the blonde occurred to Itachi. One being he should _not_ insult his wife, also Naruto's actual sister who, as Naruto said, abandoned him. That wasn't the case at all. The truth was that Sayuri had no choice but to watch from afar. She could only distance herself from him to keep him safe from Minato's dangerous name and fame.

Also, Naruto mentioned having harmed Kenshin for being stubborn. Itachi was ready to murder the blonde. Why was Naruto baiting him anyway? Itachi internally frowned. There had to be a reason. Maybe Naruto though that riling up the enemy might weaken the Edo Tensei? It was a stupid assumption. Not even Sasuke would think of that.

Finally, Itachi managed to break the Edo Tensei. It was difficult, unbelievably so, but he managed. Itachi would manage and do anything he could think of if he tried hard enough but seeing how that was the case, he declined doing so. It could lead to wars or people seeking to harm him, both directly and indirectly using people he cared about.

Once Naruto saw this, he backed off. Itachi took off, leaving the three to seal Nagato. Itachi wanted to find Sayuri and Kenshin and properly apologize because the premium kunai Itachi bought for Kenshin and Uchiha scrolls he entrusted to Sayuri didn't seem to be much of an apology.

As Itachi was running through the trees, going to where he supposed Sayuri to be, he was followed. It was a troubling coincidence Sasuke had found him but instead of being angry the way Itachi had anticipated, Sasuke was almost apologetic. Itachi could talk once more but didn't take advantage of it unless Sasuke asked a question Itachi wanted to answer.

"Nii-san, I'll take care of Sayuri and Kenshin," Sasuke said. Itachi merely nodded. The two continued silence, for the most part. Itachi decided to brighten the atmosphere for once and tell Sasuke a rather amusing story about his past.

"Sasuke, I have a story. I know I never did this when you were small but that was because there was Kaa-san and Sayuri to do that," Itachi started. Sasuke nodded in a way to tell Itachi to continue.

"When I was about two, I had wandered around the house and I found Kaa-san's stash of makeup. I was curious of how it might look on me, so I applied the items in a way I'd seen her do so a few times," Itachi paused for effect. "I'd done a terrible job."

Sasuke almost cracked a smirk, but waited for the story some more.

"When Tou-san saw it, he paled and didn't teach me anything the rest of the day. You can imagine my dismay at Tou-san, the one to fuss over my training and whatnot, to avoid me entirely," Itachi said, a soft smile on his face.

Sasuke gave a soft smirk. Both of their expressions faded as the reached their destination. It was a cave and Itachi destroyed the wall to get to Kabuto. Kabuto grinned as he saw the two Uchiha.

Itachi saw Sayuri and Kenshin in the far end of the room and saw that Sayuri had put up a seal to keep Kabuto away and was going over ninjutsu and genjutsu theories with Kenshin. Sayuri saw Itachi and was torn between going to Itachi and staying with Kenshin. Itachi gave her a meaningful look and Sayuri stayed put.

So then, the fight between the two Uchiha brothers and Kabuto began.

* * *

Itachi's body began to glow. Sayuri took down the seal and the two kissed for the last time. Itachi hugged Kenshin and told him he was sorry and he loved him and finally turned to Sasuke. Sasuke stood stoically and Itachi gave Sasuke the memories of the Uchiha Massacre, the truth. After Itachi told Sasuke he loved him no matter what, he disappeared in a glow up to the sky.

Kenshin began to cry and tried to reach up to Itachi in vain. When Itachi disappeared, Kenshin quieted down and his father's words began to ring in his ears. Sayuri looked at Sasuke.

"Sasuke, Kabuto revived Madara. The real one. We need to go out there, not for the shinobi fighting's sake but for the world's sake. I'm a decent sensor and even in his Edo Tensei state he's unspeakably dangerous," Sayuri said to Sasuke. Sasuke looked at Kabuto and noticed another person lying, unconscious. His eyes caught the curse mark on her neck and an idea occurred to him.

"I have an idea. Get me a piece of Kabuto's flesh," Sasuke said. Sayuri flinched, confused, but complied and watched in horror as the one who worked in league with Minato…but was somehow caring for her because of Kushina.

Still, it was shocking to say the least that Orochimaru stood before them. Sayuri grabbed Kenshin in her arms and looked at Orochimaru indifferently.

"Oh, Sayuri-chan. Now, if that is who I think that is now I'm interested. However, it seems Sasuke has a request," Orochimaru purred. "Go on, Sasuke-kun."

* * *

They were rather astonishing. Three Kage, two Sharingan wielders, and a snake. Hashirama was genuinely surprised to have seen such red hair and Sharingan eyes. He commented and asked questions but the girl simply looked at Orochimaru.

"Sayuri, where's Kenshin?" Sasuke asked.

"Surprisingly, I have one ally in the village. He's with an old friend. I did give Kenshin a scroll that had all kinds of murderous things in it in case I've been mistaken," Sayuri smiled, even though her words didn't match her demeanor.

"Girl, answer Hashirama-nii's question!" Tobirama growled.

Sayuri tipped her head slightly and looked at the Shodai Hokage. "Hm?"

"Explain to me why Orochimaru didn't mention a fourth Hokage despite the fact Tsunade is the fifth. And why do you have the Sharingan? Who is this 'Kenshin' you two talked about? Lastly, just who are you?" Hashirama asked. Sayuri tried not to be offended.

"That's because the Fourth Hokage died sixteen years ago but was revived, fully, quite recently. Orochimaru graciously bestowed such an honor nineteen years ago on me as a toddler. Kenshin is my child. As for your last question, it honestly depends on what period of time in my life you're asking about," Sayuri said. "Before I answer your question, the Yondaime Hokage should never have been revived. He deserved his death."

"Why?" Hashirama asked. "What did he do?"

"He allowed the experimentations. You know, I did try to kill him but I was forced to take off the seal that would've caused him to explode. Hashirama, you married an Uzumaki, right? The Uzumaki apparently _can_ unlock the Sharingan, but even a full Uzumaki is highly unlikely to. I'm half and the Yondaime, being the bastard he was, willingly gave me up. A few weeks ago I tried to kill him again for everything he did but…it didn't really work out," Sayuri hummed.

"Who are you? What relation does the Yondaime even have to you?" Hashirama asked again, intrigued.

"Today, I'm Uchiha Sayuri. More than nine years ago I was Namikaze Sayuri. The Yondaime's full name is Namikaze Minato and his wife is Uzumaki Kushina," Sayuri said. "Is that it?"

Hashirama was saddened that this would go on in his village. "Kushina, you said? She was my wife's successor in containing the Kyuubi."

Sayuri merely nodded. She was honestly really, really done with telling people who she was.

* * *

"What? What do you mean you can't use the Kyuubi's chakra?" Naruto demanded. Minato looked confused. Kushina marched up to them and whacked both of them over the head.

"Minato, why exactly did you leave the dangerous scrolls where Sayuri could get them?! Don't you see? She's messed with your seal!" Kushina yelled. "Idiots, both of you!"

"And you don't suppose you can fix it?" Minato smiled sheepishly. Kushina glared.

"Who the hell do you think I am?" Kushina said as she looked at his seal. She suddenly jumped away, behind Minato.

"Sayuri! Get over here!" Kushina roared. The nearby shinobi cowered a little. Sayuri turned her head slowly and was thoroughly disappointed to see what she saw. Minato was trying to tell her he was sorry and Sayuri didn't want to hear it.

Sayuri decided to blatantly disobey Kushina and raced towards Madara. Lightning cackled around her and black flames and seals raced towards him. Madara frowned. Red hair and a fully evolved Sharingan. He could see the sword on her side and when she engaged him with it, her moves were rather fluid and clean. A grin spread across his face. He saw that taijutsu was not her forte and quickly engaged her.

In shock, the sword clattered out of her hands as she tried to defend herself. Even though she could see his moves coming, her body was having trouble keeping up. She could feel he was pushing her back and her body was beginning to slow and hurt. She didn't have time to form seals and fight back the way she could've so beaten his ass.

The hits suddenly stopped and Sayuri managed to catch her breath and saw the horrible look on his face. A grin. She was pushed against a rock and the cries of Minato echoed in her ears. She looked over and suddenly, pain shot through her.

Her eye burned painfully. No, it didn't burn. What did burn was her stomach, but that was a completely different matter.

"No wonder you have such good moves. Your Sharingan will be appreciated. And what a nice Mangekyo pattern you have," Madara commented. Sayuri glared and found that she could only see out of one eye. She let out a blood-curdling scream and held the place where her eye used to be. The pain began to set in and her stomach felt like he'd set her on fire. She glanced down out of her only eye now, her right eye, and saw he had, in fact set her on fire. That, and on top of the fact he'd stabbed her with her own sword.

"Just who are you anyway? You lasted longer than I'd expected," Madara pushed her against a rock again.

"I'm not…going to tell you," Sayuri said as she spat out blood.

"Well, that's fine. I bet those two running over know who you are. I'll squeeze it out of them," Madara said simply. Sayuri fell to her knees and barely recognized a Hyuuga girl tending to her. She tried to speak but the girl sharply hushed her. Sayuri looked and saw that Kushina was fighting Madara in anger and was slowly being beaten exactly the way she'd been beaten, but lasting much shorter.

Golden chakra filled her vision and red chakra surrounded her body. Sayuri took this and managed to stay conscious.

"…Naruto-kun's sister so I'll protect you," the girl was saying. Sayuri looked back at the girl and gave what she hoped was a confused look. She felt her wounds healing and was thankful that Madara hadn't used Amaterasu on her; she would've died easily.

Someone was approaching. She sat up with much difficulty once she felt her wounds being sufficiently healed and gritted her teeth as pain shot through her. She looked up and saw Orochimaru waltzing over.

"My, my Sayuri-chan. You've lost half of my results. I bet Minato-kun will be disappointed," Orochimaru referred to her missing eye. She managed to stand and her legs cried out and they began to shake. The Hyuuga looked extremely alarmed to see Orochimaru there and took a protective stance. Sayuri shook her head and grabbed onto Orochimaru for support. Orochimaru chuckled and whisked her away.

Sayuri leaned against a tree root once Orochimaru had set her down and Sayuri handed him a scroll that contained healing ninjutsu. Orochimaru nodded and activated the seal once he set Sayuri over it. A few minutes later, most of her pain was gone and Sayuri let out a bitter laugh.

"Look at that," Sayuri said as she looked at Naruto and the Bijuu being taken by Madara after a long, long while of staying silent with Orochimaru happily complying with the silence.

"Hm?" Orochimaru looked at where she was looking and saw Naruto had been forced out of the Kyuubi's chakra.

"I wonder where Minato is. You know, he valued that damn kid in Kushina's stomach more than he did when I was bleeding on the training ground. He'd tend to her every need to make sure she was safe, therefore Naruto was safe, and even had Kakashi protect her. I was…forgotten," Sayuri said. "And when Naruto truly needs him, he is nowhere to be found."

"Didn't you mess with his seal? I'm proud of you; we're always messing with the shinobi world and Naruto is perhaps seen as a savior and needs the one person you've rendered obsolete," Orochimaru said. "I do believe this may pose to be a problem, though."

"Yeah. So? I was so angry. I still am. I did, however, take off the seal that would've caused his body to explode" Sayuri said.

"I'm surprised, however, that you're not wishing to kill me. Why is that?" Orochimaru's lips quirked up in a smirk.

Sayuri remained silent. Fatigue was taking over and she could feel her eye begin to want to sleep. Finally, she fell prey to sleep and Orochimaru sighed and got up and left.

* * *

A year passed. Minato had managed to get Sayuri only a month in jail and once she got out, she lived in the Uchiha compound and only came to the Hokage tower if she was going on a mission. Or needed something.

The war had ended as she had hoped: Sasuke was alive. When it ended, he ran up to her and hugged her, not letting go even when the pink-haired girl chided him for running off before she could heal his arm properly.

Sayuri lived quietly and the villagers slowly warmed back up to her, but they were still skittish. Sayuri was often found in the Uchiha compound reading something.

"Sayuri, I'm have a girlfriend," Sasuke said one day. Sayuri looked shocked.

"With who?" Sayuri asked. Sasuke mentioned it was the pink-haired girl.

"I don't approve," Sayuri said. "I may not be the head of the rather skeletal Uchiha clan, but I've got seniority. This girl, bring her to me."

Sasuke nodded meekly and ran off. A few minutes later, four people, including Sasuke came. Sayuri saw Naruto and quickly rolled up her scrolls and set them aside before standing and looking at them with a careful eye.

"We have a Hyuuga, Namikaze, Uchiha, and a medical nin," Sayuri said. The four nodded.

"Hyuuga, girl, come with me," Sayuri said and walked away. The two males, Naruto and Sasuke were mystified of what Sayuri was going to do with their girlfriends.

Sayuri brought them to a small room. The girls looked mildly nervous and uncomfortable.  
"Sayuri-san, right?" the Hyuuga asked. Sayuri stared at Sakura until she finally broke.

"What?" Sakura demanded. Sayuri continued to stare.

"What makes you think you're going to marry my brothers? Both of you," Sayuri asked, her grey eye carefully looking at them.

"Sasuke's your brother? You married Itachi?" Sakura asked. Sayuri gave a nod.

"Tell me," Sayuri said.

"Sasuke's a really good guy and even though he never picks up the tab when we go out for dates. I used to be infatuated with him but now I see that was never love. I think, I think I can help rebuild the Uchiha clan and live a happy life," Sakura said.

"You, Hyuuga. I like you already but Naruto…he's the third worst thing to happen to me," Sayuri said. "Convince me."

"I've always liked him and admired him. I understand you have some hard feelings towards him and I won't ask why but his parents already approve…" Hinata said softly.

Sayuri looked out of the window and for a moment, saw Itachi. She flinched and blinked and saw it was Kenshin in the window, staring.

"The Academy let out early. I got my grades," Kenshin said as he jumped into the room and handed her the grades. She looked it over and turned back to the girls.

"I approve. If Naruto proves to be as much of an asshole as I imagine he is, just like his damned father, you can come to me and I'll personally deal with it. As for you, Sakura, if Sasuke has any problems with you, you will find your life a living hell. For now, I suppose I can deal with you but please, please," Sayuri paused and gave a small smile. "Make then pay for the entire date bill. I know that the one date I went on, my date paid for _all_ of it."

The two girls smiled and went off. Sasuke and Naruto entered the room as Sayuri was going over a homework assignment with Kenshin.

"Why did you tell Hinata-chan what you told her? And, is the reason why you wanted to approve of her was because, oh I don't know, because you care about me?" Naruto smiled cheekily.

Sayuri was at a loss for words. She looked at Sasuke and then at Naruto again.

"I might not have forgiven your father but," Sayuri said slowly. "I won't want to kill you."

Naruto smirked. "I'll tell Tou-chan that then. He'll march over here and weep."

"Like I care. He can go die again, even more painfully this time, for all I care," Sayuri said.

In a flash of yellow light, Naruto disappeared and reappeared, with Minato. Minato looked at Sayuri and, true to Naruto's word, began to cry. Sayuri got up to shove Minato out of the room so she could help Kenshin with his homework but Minato simply threw himself at her, bawling.

"Hey! Get off, coward!" Sayuri said harshly.

"Sayuri! Why're you being so cruel? Your mother has even forgiven me!" Minato whined.

"Namikaze, both of you, get out. Uchiha Sasuke, please get them off the premises," Sayuri said and detached herself from Minato and slammed the door.

She turned to Kenshin and sighed.

"Sorry, where were we?" Sayuri asked. Kenshin gave her a knowing look and blinked.

"You should make up. It's not going to do anyone any good if you continue to distance yourself from him. It's obvious he cares, even if he didn't when you were small. If Tou-san were here, he'd make you make up with him," Kenshin said.

Sayuri narrowed her eye before giving up.

"I'll do it later. What do you need help on?" Sayuri sat back down.

* * *

Sayuri wore a white dress and walked through Konoha. A soft smile played out on her face. She recalled her days as a young child; the center of her parent's attention and loved by her younger brother. She'd been a strong kunoichi until she retired on her father's orders, to which she complied.

Her husband as well, had retired. Minato had wanted them to be happy together so he took them out of the Konoha ranks and they lived a peaceful life.

Itachi stuffed his hands in his pockets and gave a smile as he was waiting on the path for her.

Time fast-forwarded about ten years and Kenshin was the best ninja in his class. He'd often be seen with Sasuke's children despite the five-year age gap. There were also Naruto's children, but the boy seemed especially keen on beating Kenshin in a battle, only to be beaten easily.

Kenshin would smile and help the boy up, much to his annoyance. Sayuri laughed a little, seeing them be so…nostalgic for her. She'd often spar with Naruto even though there was roughly six years between them.

She sensed someone coming up behind her and she turned around and blocked, sliding back a few inches.

"I can't ever seem to land a hit on you. You're always ready," Naruto glared. Sayuri patted his head and cast a smile on her own child.

Then everything was swept away.

Kenshin, Itachi, Sasuke, Hinata, Naruto, and everyone else laid in a pool of blood and she felt herself slammed to the ground.

"I've always considered you a failure! Now it's time to get rid of this stain on the Namikaze name!" a familiar voice rang out. Her hands were bound and a thick warm liquid ran down her cheek and her stomach and ribs ached in pain.

Another man stepped out of the shadows. Long black hair and Sharingan eyes. Fear coursed through her veins and she tried to thrash and get away. She saw Itachi's bloody and dead body and more fear echoed.

"Stop struggling. I won't take your other eye yet; I want you to see your death," the man said.

Minato stepped down hard onto her hands, her fingers. A few sickening cracks; he'd broken her fingers. Amidst her pain-filled mind, she heard a snicker.

A blade went through her body, her arms, shoulders, stomach, heart, legs, hands, feet, in a matter of seconds. The second man disappeared while Minato stayed and continued to kick her lifeless body, clinging to life, and drowning in pain.

"Failure!"

"Failure!"

"I hate you! Just die already!" Minato said, his voice pausing from panting from the effort. Sayuri could only look out into nothingness; he'd taken her other eye. She was blind now. Then everything was enveloped in darkness.

Sayuri awoke in the dead of night. Her ears rang with a scream and realized it was probably her own. She heard hurried footsteps and turned over on her futon and curled up. She didn't want to see anyone.

"Nee-chan!" Sasuke came bursting through the door. "What happened?"

Sayuri uncurled herself and walked past him. Sasuke caught her arm and looked her in the eye, something she couldn't do in return. She gritted her teeth. More images of his bloody body came back. She shook him off and walked off.

The night was a cool one with no clouds and no moon. She kept walking through Konoha until she reached the Hokage's house. She walked up the stairs and sensed a single chakra signature in the house.

Resentment, anger, and most of all, fear, was making her heart pound. She twisted the doorknob and the one person she wanted to wipe off the face of the earth…no…it wasn't that. Not at all.

"Sayuri. It's unusual for you to be up so late…" Minato trailed off and, alarmed, got up and knelt in front of her.

Sayuri had dropped to her knees and began to sob. Her thinning frame shook and Minato, unsure of what to do, panicked.

He looked around as if the answer to his problems would appear. Sayuri had never cried in front of him. In the six years he'd known her as a child, he could scarcely recall a time when she'd cried. And to this frightening degree.

Finally, he slowly embraced her and patted her back gently. Sayuri simply shook harder and cried more.

Suddenly, all the lights went out. Sayuri froze for a second before leaning into the embrace.

"What happened? Did Sasuke do something? Did Naruto do something?" Minato asked, the darkness concealing her tear-streaked face.

"You did," Sayuri whispered. Minato frowned. Was she still not getting over what had happened over twenty years ago?

"What happened?" Minato asked, afraid she'd lash out and accuse him of playing stupid.

"You killed me! You and Madara…you killed everyone I cared about and then…and then you called me a failure and wanted me to die and broke my bones and kicked me over and over killed me after Madara stabbed me so many times and stole my other eye!" Sayuri said, her voice breaking.

Minato pushed her away slightly, his hands on her shoulders and his eyes hopefully at her eye level.

"Sayuri, I know I've done a lot of terrible things in my life, but I won't ever even think about killing you. Sayuri, I will never call you a failure, or break any of your bones, hurt you, or murder you." Minato asked. "You're the daughter I want to make up to most. I love you. Do you understand?"

This caused Sayuri to sob harder. Minato, flustered, hugged her tighter to him and rubbed her back to try to calm her.  
A few more minutes of silence passed between the two.

"Y-yeah…" Sayuri said. "I'm sorry for everything I did to try to kill you."

"It's okay," Minato said. Sayuri's head hit Minato's shoulder and Minato caught her.

"Feeling better?" Minato asked. No response. The lights flickered back on and Sayuri had passed out. He shook his head and smiled. He picked her up and carried her back to the Uchiha compound.

"Sasuke-kun?" Minato called out. The moment the name left his lips, Sasuke appeared.

"What happened?" Sasuke asked, letting the Hokage in and set Sayuri in her room once more. The two males sat at the table over some tea Sasuke brewed.

"She had a nightmare that Madara and I tortured her after killing everyone she cared about. According to her, Madara stabbed her and took her other eye while I called her a failure and broke her bones and kicked her until she died," Minato said bitterly and sipped the tea.

"She's been having these kinds of nightmares over and over since the war ended but it's only recently that she started to dream about you and Madara. I was really starting to worry that she might do something rash and end up killing herself," Sasuke admitted.

"This is all my fault," Minato said. Sasuke didn't want to say it wasn't his fault, but either way Minato would insist on it. So Sasuke kept quiet.

"Uncle Sasuke," Kenshin sleepily walked over, rubbing his eyes. "Where's Kaa-san? Why was she screaming?"

Sasuke looked at the child for a moment. "She was having a nightmare. Are you having nightmares?"

"Not really. It's just she woke me up," Kenshin said. "Oh, good evening, Hokage-sama."

"You can call me Jii-san if you like," Minato said. Kenshin looked at him skeptically.

"Good night, Uncle Sasuke, Hokage-sama," Kenshin said as he walked back to his room.

The two males exchanged a look before Minato decided to leave and Sasuke went to Sayuri's room and stayed there until morning, until she woke up.

The sun hit Sasuke's face a few hours later and he was passed out on the floor next to Sayuri. Sayuri glanced at him and smiled as she got up and began to prepare breakfast. She noticed the teacup and raised a brow before washing it and warming up the tea Sasuke had brewed earlier.

"Are you okay, Kaa-san?" Kenshin suddenly appeared. Sayuri almost flinched but her reflexes kicked in and she simply sighed.

"Yeah. Thanks to the Hokage," Sayuri said and served him breakfast, to which he watched her intently as she ate her breakfast. A few minutes later, Sasuke came.

"About time you helped make breakfast. It's been more than ten years since you helped," Sasuke snickered.

"Itachi was never as ungrateful as you," Sayuri glared as Sasuke sat down and began to eat his breakfast. Sayuri handed Kenshin his bento and off he went to the Academy.

"I'm glad you're back to normal. It's kinda a downer when you're always dark and gloomy like that. Like my father was," Sasuke smirked.

"Fugaku was just a gloomy man. That's why he married your mother; so he could be balanced out. Don't compare me to him," Sayuri gave a mock glare. Sasuke smiled and went off to the Hokage tower along with Sayuri for a mission.

**A/N God I hate happy endings! This chapter just came out this way; I had other plans but it had a mind of its own and yeah…**

**Lame excuse, I know. I hope you enjoyed the last chapter of Shift!**


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